As many may know, Zachary High School’s policy was amended last school year. Now, instead of only being allowed to wear khaki pants, students may wear navy blue pants as well. This sparked many conversations along the halls, and plenty of students already began showing off their navy-blue pants. While many schools have followed along, implementing navy blue pants and shorts, Zachary High School is becoming more inclusive and diverse within the clothing policy. Some have shared their thoughts and opinions regarding the extended dress code.

Our own superintendent, Mr. Ben Necaise, shared his own opinions on the topic. Being in such a high seat makes for a weighted opinion, and Mr. Necaise shares how he worked alongside students and parents to incorporate our new policy. It’s essential to hear the words of students and parents to ensure fairness.

“Well, any time that there’s a dress code consideration, usually that can come up from parents or students, there’s a question of how we can do this,”  Necaise said.

Although most students are eager for a new and improved dress code policy, updating the handbook can be a time-consuming process.  “There are standards to uphold, and decisions can take time,” Necaise said. “Most policies are allowed during the beginning of every year, not being introduced in the middle of the year.”

“We are very slow to change things because we have a standard and we want to uphold that,” Necaise said. “So I wouldn’t anticipate any changes any changes soon,” said Necaise.

Dr. London, a school board representative for District eight, expresses her standpoint on the topic as well. It is similar to Mr. Necaise’s, feeling it’s important to hear the words of parents. Her love for the community and high school shows through her words.

When deciding to implement a new policy, it’s best to consult the group of people the policy is intended for. Dr. London explains that when considering a policy, the ideas are usually brought up by parents or students. Then, a vote or poll is held to determine the importance of this policy. If the majority votes for yes, despite what the school board members might prefer, the policy will carry over.

“We asked students, we asked parents, we asked community members how they felt about this change, and we had an overwhelming positive response for the navy pants.” London said.

Not just Zachary High, but other schools as well have a diverse mix of clothing you can choose from. Sweatshirts, pants,

lanyards, and more are offered in colors for each student to choose from. Recently, Zachary High School hopped on board and included navy blue pants in its dress code, as other schools do. Dr. London shares one of the reasons this new policy was brought up in the first place.

“Experiencing a monthly cycle would sometimes result in accidents, which had parents leaving work and coming to school to provide a change of clothes,”  London said.

With the school board making decisions around apparel, there are plenty of possibilities with one of the biggest surrounding colors. In the future, Kaleigh Vaughn (9) shares how she expects more variation in the policies. Her biggest expectation is school colors.

“I’m expecting a little more, not a lot but more variation in the colors,” Vaughn said.

Vaughn shares her view on the new policy, stating especially for girls this addition is perfect. To start, it’s not uncommon for girls to prefer darker colors around sensitive times of the month.

“I’m mostly hearing from the girls, most of them are more comfortable in the darker than the light,” Vaughn said.

Tyreese Zastrow’s (10) (not pictured) opinion on the policy is all about the look. While some student’s preference may revolve around comfortability, Tyreese Zastrow’s (10)’s revolves around fashion. He explains how outfit choices have been extended because students are now allowed to wear a new color.

“I think they both have their specialties depending on outfit choices. Sometimes I want to wear navy sometimes I want to wear khaki,” Zastrow said.

Despite how fun it can be to mix and match new colors and find new ways to style the Zachary school uniform, some students didn’t know about the new policy. Tyreese Zastrow (10) said some of his friends had no idea about the new policy. But as the days go on more students can be seen in navy blue pants.

“A lot of my friends didn’t know about the new navy rule, so when I do tell them they seem excited about it,” Zastrow said.

With all of these diverse opinions on the new policy there is some good and bad. Overall, the navy pants took quite some time to be accepted by the school board into an official policy, and the community has a strong support based off the quick changes student have made to their wardrobes. Walking through the halls, one can see many students rocking their navy-blue pants paired with navy blue shirts and black sweaters.