We Support Atherton High School; We Oppose Uniforms
ACCE/ P.O.Box 5562/ Louisville, Ky 40255-0562/
Information you need now:
A New Start?
Atherton's new Principal, John Hudson, acted decisively to end this stalemate by meeting with teachers and SBDM Council members early in the summer and pushing for the rapid approval of a greatly modified uniform policy.
A victory for everyone - students, teachers, parents, and administrators - who kept their heads and kept the best interests of the students at Atherton in mind! A partial victory for those of us who still see having uniforms at all as misguided educational policy...
Now allowed:
But ...
We await further sanity and progress in the 2000-2001 school year...
A student recaps last year's controversy at Atherton.
Old News
As reported by the Louisville Courier-Journal, an Atherton security guard and several Atherton cafeteria workers were dismissed following allegations of drug involvement and their refusal to take a drug test.
News from the courtroom: The lawsuit filed by an Atherton family will be heard in the Fall of 2000. Watch for more information.
News from the classroom: Several more students opposed to uniforms took advantage of the opportunity to apply to transfer to non-uniform schools for next year. Does anyone care about the loss of great students from Atherton? Already, more students in Atherton's home ("resides") district choose other schools than in any other district in the County. The uniform code is driving more of them away - to magnet schools, and to private schools.
A supporter writes:
"The people I really feel for are the students, especially the seniors. To
ruin what many consider the greatest year of their lives, certainly the
greatest in their young lives, is a terrible injustice. I hope the
administrators are happy with ruining the senior year of so many great
students, because that is exactly what they are doing. I wish the students
and parents the best of luck in their fight."
Official Atherton Statistics (released by SBDM Council):
As of 12/14/99 - school population 1081 (decreased by 66 from start of year):
Meetings:
The SBDM Council met on April 20. The Uniform Dress Code proposals that came out of the Fact-Finding
Committee were on the agenda. An observer of the meeting reports:
"So, after we all listened to this expert, the SDBM Council teacher
representives... were right
back on their proposal for modifying the uniform to add navy pants and
whatever else along those lines. There was a parent proposal and a
compromised proposal also on the table. The teachers voted yes to only
their proposal, while the parents voted for their own as well as the
compromised one. Mr. Harbison voted for the compromised one as well as
the teacher's one. None could pass because one vote from the teacher's
side was needed to pass one of the other two proposals.
It's a very sad
situation at our school."
On May 18, there will be a Parent Meeting at
the Germantown/Paristown Community Center. Direct invitations to this meeting
will go to 40204 and zip codes in the Crescent
Hill-Germantown area.
There will be SBDM members present at each meeting to
hear what parents have to say. Peace Education is
helping us identify facilitators for each meeting.
Pizza and soft drinks will be served at all the Parent
Meetings.
Minutes from the Climate and Safety Task Force Meeting, Dec. 16 - this meeting demonstrated a near-complete breakdown of communication
At the conclusion of the meeting above, one teacher was overheard to say to another: 'Well it looks like we have finally won on this uniform
thing, I thought those kids would never give up". We are sorry that our attempts to work through the system, "play nice", and change this policy from within are seen as giving up. WE HAVE NOT GIVEN UP. We are forced to reconsider our tactics, in light of the fact that trying to engage the teachers constructively on this issue has only met with evasion and stonewalling - while education at Atherton is ignored and the climate at the school continues to deteriorate. What started out as "Through the Looking Glass" logic on the part of the faculty has now become "1984".
Read a letter we received recently from a supporter
Background to these events can be found here.
Other Current Information
The current Uniform Dress Code
Members of the Site-Based Decision-Making Council; other important addresses
The Motion to Rescind the Uniform Policy
"Creative Compliance" Ideas
Buttons and slogans seen around Atherton
Text of Lawsuit
Background:
Summary of the Situation at Atherton
Those in opposition to the proposal disagree with the process used to adopt the code, which has ignored student and parent participation and response, and about the code itself, which seems an unduly restrictive and ineffective response to issues of safety at Atherton. In practice, the code has caused problems of enforcement and morale at the school. (See this testimony, and this.)
A lawsuit has been filed by a parent, and is pending. Parents who are opposed to uniforms have been elected to the four parent seats on the SBDM Council of the school, which has final authority over this issue. The Council consists of 4 parents, 6 teachers, and 2 administrators.
From late 1998 to Aug. 17 (chronological order)
"Atherton Rebels Get Civics Lesson" Courier-Journal, August 13,1999
"Dress Code for Today: Convict Casual" Courier-Journal, August 19, 1999
"Atherton... Relaxes Dress Code a Little" Courier-Journal, August 24, 1999
"The Naked Truth..." Chicago Tribune, Sept. 2, 1999. This article is not about Atherton, but about the pervasive fear of teenagers in America today - brilliant
The SBDM Main page - what school-based decision-making in Kentucky is SUPPOSED to be about
An anti-uniform group in Wilson County, Tennessee
An anti-uniform group in Bossier Parish, Louisiana
An anti-uniform group in Polk County, Florida
An anti-uniform group in Walker County, Alabama
An anti-uniform group in Orleans, Ontario, Canada
An anti-uniform group in Pennsylvania
The Educational Testing Service finds that uniforms don't affect discipline
Research abstract from The Journal of Educational Research
Report on uniforms and legal issues from the ACLU
Who we are: Atherton Community for Cooperation in Education (ACCE) is an informal group of parents, students, teachers, and alumni, formed in the Fall of 1998 to question and finally to oppose the school's dress code (voted by the School-Based Decision-Making Council or SBDMC) that forced the students to wear uniforms beginning in Fall 1999. Our larger agenda encourages school/parent/student cooperation in enhancing education and a positive climate at the school.
While infinitely more sane and humane (and quite clearly written to avoid court challenges), the new provisions will still be hard to enforce (when does "pink" become "red"? when is "navy" really blue?), and still involve a huge distraction from the business of education.
"I am currently a student at [a university]. My brother attends Atherton and is in his senior year. Let me
begin by saying I saw your website while doing research for a speech on the
negative effects of school uniforms. The situation you are facing is
horrific to say the least. Previously I had no strong opinion on school
uniforms until I saw your present situation. I was incensed when I saw some
of the things that had occurred. I'm sure any administrators who read this
will try to write me off as a hot-headed college student who hasn't been out
in the "real world" yet. But I could not be silent. What they are doing to
your students is an outrage. Students walking through the halls with their
heads down and spirits broken...
Number of detentions served for dress code violations: 1,103
Number of in-school suspensions: 184
Number of suspensions: 121
Rank of Atherton in suspensions among JSPS high schools: #1 (in proportion to population)"A guest speaker was at the council meeting... He was with
"Safe Schools" through Jefferson County Board of Education. He told the
group that Atherton was one of the schools with the fewest gang
problems. He also told us that gangs wearing certain colors went out of
vogue 5 years ago. One doesn't have to worry about having them or not in
a dress code. He said when you try to prohibit certain things because
you think they are gang related, the gangs will change their symbols and
items faster then you can make policies. He said what needs to be done
is to have a zero tolerance for the intimidation that gang members
create toward others. That this is how you deal with gang problems at
the high school level.
ACCE Position Paper
This is a page in support of those concerned (students, faculty, and parents) about the new required uniform at Atherton High School. The code was created by the Atherton High School Climate and Safety Task Force and was approved by the SBDM (School-Based Decision-Making) Council at their meeting on Jan. 21.
Listing of Events
From Aug. 17 (first day of school) to the present (reverse chronological order)
Links to News Stories
"Savvy Atherton Group..." Courier-Journal, August 1999
Links to Other Sites & Information
The United States Dept. of Education Manual on uniforms - though pro-uniform, note the limitations they advise, including parental support and opt-out clauses
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ACCE: "Working to Bring Color Back to Atherton Since 1998"
Please send comments and updates to ACCE . Last revised 8/12/00