States and local school districts must decide how they will ensure a safe and disciplined learning environment. Below are some examples of school districts that have adopted school uniforms as part of their strategy.
Long Beach, California
Type: Uniforms are mandatory in all elementary and middle schools. Each school in the district determines the uniform its students will wear.
Opt-out: Yes, with parental consent
Size of program: 58,500 elementary and middle school students
Implementation date: 1994
Support for disadvantaged students: Each school must develop an assistance plan for families that cannot afford to buy uniforms. In most cases, graduating students either donate or sell used uniforms to needy families.
Results: District officials found that in the year following implementation of the school uniform policy, overall school crime decreased 36 percent, fights decreased 51 percent, sex offenses decreased 74 percent, weapons offenses decreased 50 percent, assault and battery offenses decreased 34 percent, and vandalism decreased 18 percent. Fewer than one percent of the students have elected to opt out of the uniform policy.
Dick Van Der Laan of the Long Beach Unified School District explained, "We can't attribute the improvement exclusively to school uniforms, but we think it's more than coincidental." According to Long Beach police chief William Ellis, "Schools have fewer reasons to call the police. There's less conflict among students. Students concentrate more on education, not on who's wearing $100 shoes or gang attire."
Seattle, Washington
Type: Mandatory uniform policy at South Shore Middle School
Opt-out: Yes, with parental consent. Students who opt out must attend another middle school in the district.
Size of program: 900 middle school students
Implementation date: 1995
Support for disadvantaged students: South Shore works with local businesses that contribute financial support to the uniform program. In addition, the administration at South Shore found that the average cost of clothing a child in a school with a prescribed wardrobe is less than in schools without such a program, sometimes 80 percent less. School officials believe that durability, reusability and year-to-year consistency also increase the economy of the school's plan.
Results: The principal of South Shore, Dr. John German, reports that "this year the demeanor in the school has improved 98 percent, truancy and tardies are down, and we have not had one reported incident of theft." Dr. German explains that he began the uniform program because his students were "draggin', saggin' and laggin'. I needed to keep them on an academic focus. My kids were really into what others were wearing." Only five students have elected to attend another public school.
Richmond, Virginia
Type: Voluntary uniform policy at Maymont Elementary School for the Arts and Humanities
Opt-out: Uniforms are voluntary.
Size of program: 262 elementary school students
Implementation date: 1994
Support for disadvantaged students>: Responding to parent concerns about the cost of uniforms, the school sought community financial support for the uniform program. Largely as a result of financial donations from businesses and other community leaders, the percentage of students wearing uniforms rose from 30 percent in 1994-95, the first year of the program, to 85 percent during the current year.
Results: Maymont principal Sylvia Richardson identifies many benefits of the uniform program, including improved behavior, an increase in attendance rates and higher student achievement.
Kansas City, Missouri
Type: Mandatory uniform policy at George Washington Carver Elementary School
Opt-out: None. Carver is a magnet school to which parents and students apply knowing about the uniform policy.
Size of program: 320 elementary school students
Implementation date: 1990
Support for disadvantaged students: Students receive their uniforms at no cost to them. The state and school district pay for the uniforms primarily with magnet school funding.
Results: Philomina Harshaw, the principal for all six years that Carver has had uniforms, observed a new sense of calmness throughout the school after students began wearing uniforms. "The children feel good about themselves as school uniforms build a sense of pride. It forces adults to know a child."
Memphis, Tennessee
Type: Voluntary uniform policy at Douglas Elementary School
Opt-out: Uniforms are voluntary.
Size of program: 532 elementary school students
Implementation date: 1993
Support for disadvantaged students: Douglas has business partners in Memphis that have contributed financial support to purchase uniforms for needy families.
Results: According to Guidance Counselor Sharon Carter, "The tone of the school is different. There's not the competitiveness, especially in grades, 4, 5, and 6, about who's wearing what." Ninety percent of the students have elected to wear uniforms on school uniform days, Monday through Thursday. Fridays are "casual" days during which none of the students wear uniforms.
Baltimore, Maryland
Type: Voluntary uniform policy at Mt. Royal Elementary/Middle School
Opt-out: Uniforms are voluntary.
Size of program: 950 elementary and middle school students
Implementation date: 1989
Support for disadvantaged students: Mt. Royal Elementary/Middle School keeps a store of uniforms that are provided free to students who cannot afford the $35.00 to purchase them. Ninety-eight percent of graduating eighth graders donate their uniforms to the school.
Results: According to Mt. Royal's assistant principal, Rhonda Thompson, the uniform policy "has enhanced the tone and climate of our building. It brings about a sense of seriousness about work." All of the students have elected to participate in the uniform program.
Norfolk, Virginia
Type: Mandatory uniform policy at Ruffner Middle School
Opt-out: None. Students who come to school without a uniform are subject to in-school detention.
Size of program: 977 middle school students
Implementation date: 1995
Support for disadvantaged students: The school provides uniforms for students who cannot afford them.
Results: Using U.S. Department of Education software to track discipline data, Ruffner has noted improvements in students' behavior. Leaving class without permission is down 47 percent, throwing objects is down 68 percent and fighting has decreased by 38 percent. Staff attribute these changes in part to the uniform code.
Phoenix, Arizona
Type: Mandatory uniform policy at Phoenix Preparatory Academy
Opt-out: Yes, with parental consent. Students who opt out must attend another middle school in the district.
Size of program: 1,174 middle school students
Implementation date: 1995
Support for disadvantaged students: A grant from a local foundation covers the $25 to $30 cost of uniforms for families that cannot afford to buy them.
Results: According to the principal, Ramon Leyba, "The main result is an overall improvement in the school climate and a greater focus on positive behavior. A big portion of that is from uniforms."
For More Information
If you have questions about school programs with uniforms, please call the US Department of Education office at 1-800-624-0100.