Jackson-Reed faculty has a “dress code” or as administration calls it: “dress guidelines.” Dress codes are notoriously controversial. Proponents claim dress codes help maintain order and create a safer environment, while opponents say they unfairly target certain groups of people.
Our dress code states that, “We expect all Jackson-Reed faculty and staff members to project a positive, professional image. Business casual is the baseline standard of attire for our faculty and staff. Anything less than business casual attire is only acceptable if the employee works in a manual or physical labor capacity or role.” The only other exception is that faculty are allowed to wear jeans and a Jackson-Reed or college spirit shirt on Fridays.
English teacher Allison Conroy shares that while she understands the reasoning behind the expectation of professionalism, she thinks that, “on some level it is focused on the wrong things and isn’t our primary problem in the school.”
Beyond the effectiveness of these “dress guidelines,” lies the question of those disproportionately affected by them. In a positive light, the dress guidelines appear to address both feminine and masculine styles of dress equally, listing acceptable clothing as, “dress slacks, khakis or skirts, buttoned down dress shirt, shirts with collars, business casual crewneck or V-neck shirts, blouses, golf and polo shirts, casual slacks, casual slip on or tie shoes, dress shoes and sandals, shoes with straps and support shoes.” However, teachers who tend to “step out of line” more than others seem to be reminded of the dress guidelines more often.
For example if a teacher were to finish their grading late, or not be at their door during transition time, they may receive an email regarding that failure with an additional note about their clothing.
Michelle Bollinger, building representative of JR teachers in the Washington Teachers Union, is in charge of listening to all the responses to the guidelines, by being the link between teachers and administration. When asked about her opinion of the potential biases in the guidelines, Bollinger shared that overall she doesn’t believe “that [the dress code has] been implemented unfairly.”
In accordance with this, when Math teacher Ms. Guo was asked about the teacher dress guidelines, she replied with, “We have a teacher dress code?”
However, Bollinger did describe an instance where a teacher was reminded of the guidelines after failing to maintain a different policy. She explained that instances like these tended to happen with newer faculty, but are few and far between.
