However, a slight shift of perspective provided another reason for the Secaucus Board of Education to smile. A lot of kids were still wearing their school uniforms of embroidered logo shirts and khaki pants hours after school was done for the day.
After months of trial and error, it appears that the inaugural year of the Secaucus school uniform policy has brought about a considerable degree of acceptance for the new regulations.
Uniform policy cause for significant debate
The decision to implement a district-wide dress code in Secaucus starting with the 2006-2007 school wear was met almost immediately with controversy. The main bones of contention centered on what the uniforms would actually consist of and the repercussions of violating the new school uniform policy.
In addition, one of the Secaucus uniform vendors, Uniformity, had been a source of controversy in Bayonne because they were the sole vendor of school uniforms there. The Greene Uniform Company, another Secaucus uniform vendor, went out of business in November, leaving only the Lands' End mail order company as an alternative uniform supply source.
Parent Janice Snuffer, who has already put two children through the Secaucus school system with a third child going through it now, had protested in an earlier interview about what she felt was a confusing situation.
"I think that the entire process was unclear," she said. "There was no discussion about this. There was no process."
School officials begged to differ, including Huber Street School Principal Fred Ponti, who noted that the whole school uniform presentation was laid out for parents on the Board of Education website (www.sboe.org) for all to see.
Officials also pointed to an 80 percent approval rating from the surveys returned by parents regarding the implementation of a school dress code.
Supply glitches smoother now
But last week, Secaucus Assistant Superintendent of Schools Ralph Merlo noted that despite these obstacles, the uniform supply situation is now under control.
"All of the orders from Uniformity have now been filled in recent weeks," he said. "We haven't had any problems with Lands' End either."
Merlo noted that any violation of the dress code has repercussions, but that they are far from draconian.
"We give out about one day of detention per violation," he said. "Usually the excuse is that their uniforms were being washed, but we still maintain our standards."
Merlo hopes to maintain the lines of communication with parents through a series of meetings with parents regarding the continuation of the uniform policy.
"We're in the process now of meeting with parents to get their feedback to see if we are going to make any adjustment to the uniform policy and to discuss any changes that we might make about the vendors that we will be using," he said. "Of the 20 percent of parents who initially disapproved of the uniform policy, we feel that many have seen it in effect and now feel that it's a good thing."
Finally, Merlo spoke about how the students have responded to the new uniform policy over the last few months.
"I was pleasantly surprised," he said. "Students that I thought were very fashion-conscious came to me and said that they were looking forward to wearing uniforms because it cuts down on the competition between them. Now they didn't have to worry about keeping up with everyone else."
Mark J. Bonamo can be reached at mbonamo@hudsonreporter.com.
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