Sick of Crocs and saggy pants? Broward School Board looking for opinions about uniforms

Miami Herald | By Jimena Tavel | January 23, 2024

The Broward School Board voted 5-3 to survey parents, students and teachers on a very specific issue: uniforms.

Do they want them? Are they cool? Can they afford them?

Those are some of the questions board members had in mind when they approved the motion Tuesday, but it’s unclear when or how the school district will deliver the survey, and what specific queries it will include.

Board members Brenda Fam, Daniel Foganholi and Torey Alston dissented.

Currently, the relevant School Board policy, last revised in 2008, allows each public school in Broward to decide whether to mandate uniforms.

If a school wants uniforms, the official process requires the School Advisory Council — composed of the principal and other stakeholders like parents, teachers and students — to poll all parents and guardians at the school. At least 66 percent of the parents or guardians who have students enrolled in the school must cast a vote in favor of the school-wide uniform mandate in order to for it to pass.

The school district didn’t immediately respond to an email from the Herald asking how many schools currently mandate uniforms.

Daniel Foganholi, District 1, addresses the independent search firm working with human resources to find candidates for a new superintendent during the Broward County School Board meeting on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Alie Skowronski

On Tuesday, board member Daniel Foganholi asked his colleagues to direct Broward Schools Superintendent Peter Licata to change the policy so that the school district forces all of its schools to implement uniforms in the 2024-2025 school year.

“I’m sick and tired of seeing our young men having their pants past their waistline, seeing them dressed in pajamas, Crocs,” he said. “If you pass by bus stops, you can see it, you don’t need to go to our schools.”

“And then I see difference when I step foot into one of the schools that has unified dress … They look respectful,” he added.

A uniform edict would decrease bullying by 25 percent in its first year, Foganholi said, because kids won’t pick on each other if they repeat outfits or if they don’t wear high-end brands like Louis Vuitton.

BOARD MAJORITY WONDERS IF UNIFORMS ARE NEEDED

Board member Torey Alston concurred with Foganholi that a standard dress code would abate mean behavior among students: “Will this end it 100 percent? No. Will it help alleviate it? Absolutely.”

Alston also argued a stricter uniform policy would help the district get an A-rating from the state’s Department of Education, which it hasn’t accomplished in years.

“We want to get to an A district,” Alston said. “Here is one of 20 ways that will help us get there.”

But not all other School Board members agreed right away.

Lori Alhadeff, the board’s chair, said: “I’m a no for now, but I’m interested in continuing the conversation.”

Broward County School Board Chair Lori Alhadeff is presented with flowers after being re-elected to her position during a school board meeting at the Kathleen C. Wright Building on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. MATIAS J. OCNER

Debbie Hixon, Sarah Leonardi and Jeff Holness all said they need more input, raising concerns about people not being able to afford uniforms, especially students experiencing homelessness, and about teachers not wanting to enforce the uniforms.

Only two public speakers opined on the agenda item before the board addressed it Tuesday.

“We’re seated up here elected to represent the community … so how do we hear from the community and meet them where they’re at?” said Hixon, the board’s vice chair who then proposed the board first seek data through a survey before asking Licata to make any changes to the 2008 policy.

Board member Allen Zeman said he doesn’t think uniforms should be a priority right now, as the district deals with larger issues like closing or re-purposing under-enrolled schools. But he ultimately favored the survey.

Fam wanted to limit the survey only to parents but her suggestion failed.