With the beginning of the new school year, Eaglecrest  has enforced updated regulations for the dress code. After years of conflict and controversy surrounding the dress code, CCSD has addressed concerns by releasing a new dress code. The dresscode philosophy highlights that, “The school district is responsible for seeing that student attire does not interfere with health or safety of any student, that student attire does not contribute to a hostile or intimidating atmosphere for any student, and that dress code enforcement does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group based on race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, household income, or body type/size.”

The new dress code was written by David DeRose with the help of students from Eaglecrest High School to update its policies by conducting research and taking into consideration other social issues. Mr. DeRose stated, “We don’t have any gender specific language in the new dress code and made things more anatomical so that we didn’t refer to specific male or female body parts. We also considered different gender identities, so that people who identify differently can dress however they feel comfortable.” The dress code directly states that it will “allow students to wear clothing that expresses their self-identified gender”.

The dress code also states that people can dress according to their self-identified gender. This new statement, not mentioned in the dresscodes before, ensures that admin and security can’t dress code people for dressing in a style or manner that is representative of who they believe they are.

The new dress code focuses on inclusivity since it takes into consideration gender identification and allow more reasonable standards of dress for arms. However, it cracks down on some forms of dress by prohibiting “Items that obscure the face, head, or ears (except as a religious observance and approved medical conditions upon administrative review) including, but not limited to hats, durags, hoods, and beanies.”

According to the updated dress standards, students will be allowed to wear off the shoulder tops. Before the recent change, people weren’t allowed to show their shoulders. Grace Messmer was happy with the new changes as she said , “ It’s really cool that the dress code has become more inclusive of gender and is applied to all students to avoid body shaming and sexism.” Since the new rules appear to be more inclusive to all students rather than simply just females or males, they bring forth a positive message to the school. Ashlyn Tumenne also stated that she preferred the new dress code. She said, “I really like the new dress code. I didn’t agree with the old one.”

The new dress code is currently solidified for the now because it took into consideration the opinions of students and provided research for the new rules as well. The conversation was initially started by Mrs. Williams’ sociology class. Mr. Derose said, “We did a lot of research and we looked at national dress codes from all around the nation. We worked with our district legal team to make sure it was sound, and we think it will stand the test of time and won’t be influenced by fashion trends. It may change one day, but we are hoping it will lasts.”