"We're trying to do this as comfortably and as fairly as possible," Baccarella said during an interview last week.
Last June, the Bayonne Board of Education voted to require elementary students to wear uniforms as of October. While only seven students out of 6,000 attending the district's elementary schools have failed to comply with the policy, the implementation had numerous problems that the committee will seek to avoid if the policy is recommended for the BHS.
"We know there were problems last year," said Board of Education Member Doreen DiDomenico. "Things were a little rushed. But compliance has been good."
More than 100 parents attended to the Parent-Teacher Association meeting on Jan. 17 to explore the possibility of incorporating uniforms into the high school.
"Nothing is settled," DiDomenico said. "The point of the meeting was to see if we should adopt uniforms for the high school and how to implement it if we do."
More than 20 people - parents, faculty and students - have volunteered to review the prospects of a uniform policy for the high school. This will include developing and circulating a survey of parents.
"We've learned from the past, we're not going to depend on students to bring the survey home to their parents," DiDomenico said. "We also know that some people were confused last time as to whether we were looking for an opinion on uniforms or asking parents if they wanted us to implement the policy."
The Board of Education has apparently already looked ahead to possible options if the policy is implemented.
While the district will still require the uniforms if a policy is selected, and will enforce the policy with the same strict standards as in the elementary schools. Uniform colors and other aspects of a new policy may be more liberal.
"We might have a wider range of colors," DiDomenico said.
Parents will be surveyed
Baccarella said the process began in the fall when Schools Superintendent Dr. Patricia McGeehan asked him to investigate the possibility of uniform policy at the high school.
He said the first thing he did was poll the staff to see who might be interested in becoming part of the steering committee. About 30 people showed up at an informational meeting near the end of the year that resulted in 14 staff members from the high school taking on the role.
"This is a huge undertaking," Baccarella said. "First, we had to establish the protocol."
Baccarella said the state law requires that principals, staff and parents have to be supportive of a uniform policy for the Board of Education to consider implementing it.
Baccarella said he wanted to get the parents, teachers and students involved in the process.
At the Jan. 17 parent's forum, Baccarella said he explained the change and how the committee would work.
"About 130 parents attended," he said. "Twenty-two of them volunteered to take part in the committee."
Members of the steering committee will form subcommittees with two or three parents and students, each charged with looking into a different aspect of the uniform issue, such as color, style, or consequences for non-compliance.
"These committees will report when we all get back together and what they decide will be ultimately part of the package that we recommend for the Bayonne students," he said.
A lot of the work of these committees will be done in February, so they will likely be ready to report back at another parent's forum in March.
"While nothing has been decided yet, there seems to be a great desire for a variety of styles and colors. I can't say what colors yet. But once we've established what the uniforms look like, we will poll the faculty for its support and then poll the parents," Baccarella said. "We're going to show parents and faculty what we're talking about. In fact, we're going to put on a fashion show. Everybody will know what they are voting on when they are polled."
Parents will know how many pants, shirts and other requirements before they are asked to vote on the uniform policy.
"They will probably be polled by mail," he said. "Once the results of the polling are collated, we will turn them over to the board to read, absorb and determine if there is support for the policy," he said.
Here's where things get a little complicated.
"The law doesn't give a percentage for approval," Baccarella said. "It says it as to be supported by principals, parents and the superintendent."
This means that when the surveys are presented to the board, the board will need to determine if there is enough community support to move ahead. A high percentage of approval makes this decision easier. The difficulty arises if the percentage is evenly split between those who support it and those who don't.
Baccarella said the committee would do its best to provide all the information possible for parents to decide. The Board of Education will have to make the final decision.
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