The Metro school board at a contentious and sometimes emotional meeting last night approved the idea of requiring "standard school attire" in all public schools starting in the fall. Curiously, both daily papers got the story wrong in their ledes this morning.
The City Paper says the board "approved a districtwide standard school attire policy." The Tennessean writes that the board voted "to adopt a ҳtandard school attire' policy."
In fact, although a five-page draft policy was on the table for discussion, it was not adopted. Instead, an MNPS spokesperson tells Pith, the board merely reviewed the draft, "approved the concept," and "asked the administration to bring back its recommendations for a district standard operating policy." School board member David Fox adds that the written proposal is just "one possible framework," and that MNPS director Pedro Garcia next will craft a specific policy and then "must come back and present it to the board."
This means that parents troubled by school uniforms still have work to do as the administration develops individual opt-out provisions and procedures. It also means that reporters for the daily papers covering school board meetings should pay closer attention to what's going on.
UPDATE: The city attorney who answered school board questions last night about legal issues also sees the development of a specific policy as still pending. Asked today why he was somewhat tentative last night in advising the board about potential legal risks, Metro Law Department attorney Jon Michael told Pith, "There will be another draft emerging from the administration, that would be a more final draft, and that is the verson that we'll be in a position to comment on more fully. We're already pulling together the cases and waiting for our chance."
