School Board Dress Code

SCHOOL BOARD DRESS CODE

Situation: Board Member wearing hats (cowboy or baseball)

Have you talked to your field rep IASB about it?

Get one more with an Indian headdress, another with a hard hat and you can start singing Y.M.C.A. and other fine Village People songs at each meeting. Sorry, just couldn't resist!!

That would probably be something you could address in your new board member training meeting or literature you send out to new members.

Yep, pardner! Had the Board President tactfully approach the board member away from the meeting. Also, had other Board members do similar things with errant members. They would decide who would do the approach and then do it away from a meeting.

Do you let students wear hats during the day? If not, there is the opening.

Thank you for this email. It gave me a good laugh, and believe me with what I am dealing with - I needed one.

Our board president addressed it but didn't get very far.

Let me begin by thanking you for bringing levity to my day. Your description reminds me of the painting of the dogs playing poker. Your board meetings must be interesting. This is an issue that is best resolved by Board members. Perhaps a self evaluation session facilitated by an IASB Field Representative is in order.

In our case our Board President did this as a backdrop for me to address more professional attire from our staff. He has required for the 9 school months that our male members (of which we have 6) wear shirts and ties ...business casual attire for the 3 summer months ...they did not balk and it has given our whole atmosphere a more professional feel and appearance to outsiders that have visited occasionally.

Oh my... Diane, you just made my day. Just when I'm certain I've heard it all.... Just as an fyi...one of my board members in a previous district came to our meetings in sweats and for all appearances more often than not looked like she had just rolled out of bed... and would occasionally sit on the floor or cross- legged with both feet in her chair and her shoes off. I haven't been physically able to do that since I was four. (I think she took yoga lessons). I suppose your situation might be cured by having an "old-timer" with cultural status from the community be in the audience at the next meeting and have them state loudly that it's polite for a gentleman to remove his hat when they enter a building... while they are taking off their hat. Or... on the other hand.... you could pick up the biggest, loudest, most gaudily ornate and feathered Easter Bonnet and wear it to the next meeting.

Not about dress code, but I just recently had a conversation with a board member about behavior at ballgames. I remember Bob Freeman at WIU said those conversations should always be done by the board president, since we are reprimanding the person who hires us. However, it seems like it always comes back to us.

You have got a lot of courage putting this on the list serve! I don't have an answer for you, but I can only imagine what you are going to get. Good luck trying to keep a lid on (or I guess, off) your members!

I was raised that men are not to wear hats in any building. I would go with that approach. Touchy....good luck...

Is there a student dress code about wearing hats in school? Could you apply this same concept to adults as they are role models for kids? Sounds like a sensitive issue.

You may want to make them aware we don't allow students to wear hats in the building, so we would hope they would model proper behavior, likewise for any other type of attire. The Board President is probably the best person to address this though.

You could do themes and all of you wear cowboy hats to one meeting and then baseball caps to another, work hats to another and so on.

Do you start your meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance"? Maybe that would break the ice on the hat issue.

I think it is really tacky - the board president should just ask them to remove their hats for the public meeting.

Only in Adams County.

Diane, at least nobody's wearing a deer hunting hat! Or are they? Hope all is going well--other than the hat issues! We have big signs all over the building informing people that hats are not allowed in the building.

I have had board presidents inform the board they are to dress and act like professionals at the meeting; thus, setting an example for other employees of the district. Case in point would be PE teacher who always wore a ball cap in the building, shop teacher who wore jeans with holes in them, etc. This was done before executive session started and everyone is together. Not during a meeting, or in public. Then he would look at me and say I have taken care of my people, now you take care of yours. And I agree it is his responsibility to address a board member. Let me know how it turns out!!

Hey Diane--see if you can borrow it for next year’s dinner at Pinnacle Petes!!!! On a serious note--When I did the Board orientation I made a suggestion on appropriate attire.

I know that my previous president would have told the person that when inside for a professional meeting, a hat of any kind is inappropriate. Maybe, he just has not thought about it and someone mentioning it would be all that is needed. Again, maybe not. Our president had a thing about not wearing jeans and/or shorts, since it was not professional. Tell the people they can wear them at athletic events, unless that is prohibited, and other places but just not at a professional meeting. There was even a document developed that addressed professional dress, which is attached. Just curious, do they take the hats off for the Pledge of Allegiance? Good luck with this one.

How about " Gentlemen, would you mind removing your hats in the building"? We expect our students to do the same.

Have the board president hire Terry to ride his Harley through the board door and tell Ernie Banks and Roy Rogers to act like gentleman and take off their damn hats. Just kidding of course; good luck on this one!

Have the other five members come with crazy hats and the new member and the baseball fan might get the idea. Of course a charming superintendent like you might choose to have a portable hat rack at the BOE meeting and ask members to check their hats at the door. You could wear a big hat as well. Heck have fun with this!

I say give everyone a cowboy hat! Do you allow hat to be worn at after school activities? Would you allow a member of the public attending a BOE mtg. to wear a hat? If so, then. . . Just my 2 cents.

Have entire Board show up in hats, then all remove them when meeting starts.

Let the President do it. No use in alienating board members over a matter of personal preference for wearing a hat. The board president can remind them that students are not allowed to wear hats in the building and that they need to set an example.

I agree that it is the Board president's responsibility and not yours. If you have a school policy that prohibits hats from being worn in school (unless there is a related health problem like chemotherapy), then a good approach would be that the Board president emphasize that board members are role models for students and should lead by example. That has worked for me whenever a board member strays into an area that would set a bad example for students. If you let students wear hats to school..then good luck.

Got a good laugh out of this!

Here are a couple thoughts: 1) What does your student handbook say about wearing hats in school? Should apply for adults the same way! 2) What does your athletic policy say about wearing hats in the building? 3) You could always add a policy that says the district will pay for attendance to Triple I and all School Board semi-annual dinner meetings for all board members who remove their hats at Board meetings. It's still their choice! (HA)