Iowa public schools would have to adopt student dress codes that “promote personal hygiene, neatness and modesty” under a bill that’s cleared a House subcommittee.
Republican Representative Samantha Fett of Carlisle said the bill sets minimum standards. “Making sure that all school districts are implementing those consistently,” Fett said, “and setting those guardrails for students and administration.”
Representative Angel Ramirez, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who works in a middle school, said she’s concerned about a section of the bill requiring students to wear clothes that are clean and in good repair, as she sees a lot of kids wearing clothes that would violate that standard. “It’s because their parents, you know, couldn’t either afford electricity that month, water that month,” Ramirez said, “so I’m a little concerned that paired with the consequences might become too punitive for some of our poorer students.”
The bill calls for clear consequences for violating the dress code, which would not only apply during the school day, but during extracurricular activities. The bill would ban any “gang-related attire” and it says a student’s clothes must “adequately cover the body.” Exposing “undergarments or midriffs” would be prohibited.