Dress Code
Students and parents are primarily responsible for determining the student's personal dress standards, provided that the student's dress does not violate district policy or procedures.
Student attire must permit the student to participate in learning without posing a risk to the health or safety of any student or school district personnel. Clothing must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities, including physical education, science labs, shop classes and other activities where unique hazards or specialized attire or safety gear is required.
Students Must Wear:
- Shirt
- Bottom: pants/sweatpants/shorts/skirt/dress/leggings
- Shoes; activity-specific shoes requirements are permitted (for example for sports)
Note: Courses that include attire as part of the curriculum (for example, professionalism, public speaking and job readiness) may include assignment-specific clothing. Similarly, courses at any level that require specific clothing to meet safety requirements, such as closed-toed shoes in wood or metal shop courses, may be enforced.
Students Cannot Wear:
- Violent or lewd language or images
- Images or language depicting drugs, tobacco or alcohol (or any illegal item or activity) or the use of same
- Hate speech, profanity, pornography
- Images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class
- Apparel identified by local law enforcement as belonging to or identifying one as a member of any violent or criminal group
The allowance or disallowance of hats, hoodies and headwear is a site-based decision. However, any permissible head attire must allow the face to be visible to staff and must not interfere with the line of sight of any student or staff. Exceptions will be made for medical/health and religious reasons. Headwear is also allowable for sun protection.
If it is necessary for staff involvement around a student’s attire, it should be done in a way that is the least restrictive and disruptive to the student’s school day. Violations of the dress code that are outside the bounds of what students must wear or include items under the Students Cannot Wear section may be removed from class. In these situations, administrators have discretion over how to rectify the situation with an emphasis on the student missing the least amount of learning time. Any school dress code enforcement actions should not be done publicly in front of other students and should minimize the potential loss of educational time. Students should not be forced to wear clothing that is not their own when they are in violation of the dress code.
In the classroom, halls, and other common areas of Olympia High School, faculty should enforce the dress code regarding the following concerns:
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demeans or degrades individuals or groups of people (words, symbols, pictures),
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promotes violence or illegal activity,
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compromises the safety of themselves or others (ex. student wearing sandals in woodshop),
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presents excessive lack of coverage concerns of key areas of the body (ex. half shirt, boxers showing
For dress code violations:
- The student can either remove the item immediately if it is not a primary piece of clothing (ex. hat, sweatshirt, jewelry).
- If the student has appropriate clothing available to change into, the student may change and return to class.
- If the student cannot make the dress code adjustment, the student should be sent to the main office for further assistance. Parents may bring clothes or the office may offer clothing to borrow as resources allow. (If student continues to violate dress code, OHS discipline progression will follow).