MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Texas school places dress code for parents, bans 'sagging pants', pajamas, hair rollers and more

Madison High School, a day before the letter was released, had reportedly turned away a mother who claimed she was wearing a headscarf and a T-shirt dress featuring Marilyn Monroe

A high school in Houston announced a dress code for parents earlier this month, asking them to abide by it if they want to be permitted to enter the school. The dress code, which had drawn severe scrutiny, was introduced in the school on April 9.

The James Madison High School announced the policy through a letter, which lists an array of clothing that parents are not permitted to wear inside the school building or at school events. The list includes a ban on a satin cap or bonnet on their head, hair rollers and pajamas of any kind, "leggings that are showing your bottom and where your body is not covered from the front or the back", "sagging pants", "men wearing undershirts and "Daisy Dukes".

According to the Houston Independent School District, the school instated the parental code in an effort to create a "professional educational environment", the school's principal, Carlotta Outley Brown, wrote in the letter.
 
"We have to have standards, most of all we must have high standards. We are preparing your child for a prosperous future," the letter stated. The school also has a dress code in place for students.

Madison High School, a day before the letter was released, had reportedly turned away a mother who claimed she was wearing a headscarf and a T-shirt dress featuring Marilyn Monroe. The mother,  Joselyn Lewis, told local TV station KPRC that she was told by school officials that she had violated the dress code. She was reportedly at the school to register her daughter.

The president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, Zeph Capo, slammed the dress code, particularly criticizing the policy on women's hair, calling it "classist", "belittling" and "dismissive", according to the Houston Chronicle.

"I'm sorry – this principal may have plenty of money and time to go to the hairdresser weekly and have her stuff done," Capo told the newspaper. "Having a wrap on your head is not offensive. It should not be controversial."

A candidate for Houston City Council and the founder of Black Lives Matter Houston, Ashton P. Woods, also condemned the policy on Twitter, deeming it "elitism."

"Most of the parents likely cannot afford to comply with this dress code," Woods' tweet read.