V. Student Dress Code

All students are expected to give proper attention to personal cleanliness and to dress appropriately for school and school functions. Students and their parents have the primary responsibility for acceptable student dress and appearance. All BOCES personnel should, in their own appearance, exemplify and reinforce acceptable student dress and help students develop an understanding of appropriate appearance in the school setting.

A student’s dress, grooming and appearance, including hair style/color, jewelry, make-up and nails, shall:

  1. Be safe, appropriate and not disrupt or interfere with the educational process.
  2. Recognize that extremely brief garments such as tube tops, net tops, halter tops, spaghetti straps, plunging necklines (front and/or back) and see-through garments are not appropriate.
  3. Ensure that underwear is completely covered with outer clothing.
  4. Include footwear at all times. Footwear that is a safety hazard will not be allowed.
  5. Not include the wearing of hats in the classroom except for a medical or religious purpose.
  6. Not include items that are vulgar, obscene, libelous or denigrate others on account of race, color, religion, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
  7. Not promote and/or endorse the use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs and/or encourage other illegal or violent activities.

Each building administrator/designee shall be responsible for informing all students and their parents of the student dress code at the beginning of the school year and any revisions to the dress code made during the school year.

Students who violate the student dress code shall be required to modify their appearance by covering or removing the offending item and, if necessary or practical, replacing it with an acceptable item. Any student who refuses to do so shall be subject to discipline, up to and including in-school suspension for the day. Any student who repeatedly fails to comply with the dress code shall be subject to further discipline, up to and including out of school suspension.

Education Law § 2801(2)(a)
Tinker v. DesMoines Independent School Dist.. 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
Appeal of Pintka, 33 Ed Dept Rep 228 (1993)
Appeal of Parsons, 32 Ed Dept Rep 672 (1993)
Appeal of Phillips, 38 Ed Dept Rep 297 (1998)

Dutchess County BOCES: Code of Conduct
  1. Introduction
  2. Definitions
  3. Student Rights and Responsibilities
  4. Essential Partners
  5. Student Dress Code
  6. Prohibited Student Conduct
  7. Reporting Violations
  8. Discipline
  9. Alternative Instruction
  10. Discipline of Students with Disabilities
  11. Corporal Punishment
  12. Alternative Procedures
  13. Student Searches and Interrogations
  14. Visitors to the BOCES
  15. Public Conduct on BOCES Poroperty
  16. Dissemination and Review

Appendix A:
Interim Alternative Educational Settings

Appendix B:
Provision of Educational Services to Students with Disabilities Suspended or Removed

Appendix C:
CSE Responsibilities for Functional Behavioral Assessments and Behavioral Intervention Plans

Appendix D:
Procedures for Determining If a Student is a Student Presumed to Have a Disability for Discipline Purposes