School Superintendent Asks Female Students To Bend Over During Dress Code Check

[Omaha Steve]

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/08/23/3475057/school-superintendent-asks-female-student-to-bend-over-during-dress-code-check/?elq=~~eloqua..type--emailfield..syntax--recipientid~~&elqCampaignId=~~eloqua..type--campaign..campaignid--0..fieldname--id~~#

BY IGOR VOLSKY POSTED ON AUGUST 23, 2014 AT 12:55 PM UPDATED: AUGUST 24, 2014 AT 8:31 AM

School Superintendent Asks Female Students To Bend Over During Dress Code Check

A school superintendent in Noble, Oklahoma allegedly asked female students to bend over during a dress code check on the first week of school and claimed, “If you’re not comfortable with bending over, we might have a problem.”

Students at Noble High School report that the superintendent, Ronda Bass, kicked off a school assembly by saying, “Have y’all ever seen any ‘skanks’ around this school…I don’t want to see anyone’s ass hanging out of their shorts.” She later completed another dress code check, singling out just the female students.

Several students were sent home “crying and humiliated,” KFOR reports, and now parent are also raising concerns over how their daughters were treated. They’ve started a petition demanding that she step down.

For her part, Bass denies doing anything inappropriate and says she was trying to protect her students from the names others were calling them. “The message I wanted to send to them was I don’t want them to be called those names,” she told KFOR. “I want us to be known as the classy lady Bears.”

FULL story at link.

[muntrv]

1. Ronda Bass, nobody is comfortable bending over.

[BlueJazz]

2. "I don’t want to see anyone’s ass hanging out of their shorts.”

I suppose she has a point. Seems like school is not show you my ass time.
On the other hand you would think the parents would have said "You're going to classes dressed that way??...I think not"

Not being a parent though, I can only regurgitate what I've heard parents say... ??

[Louisiana1976]

4. I'm with Bass--girl students shouldn't be showing their asses during school. It could be a

distraction.

[ret5hd]

5. Butt (sic) you are OK with guys doing it???

Hypocrisy alert!!!

[tammywammy]

7. Wouldn't a simple dress code solve that issue?

Knee length shorts, no butt cheeks should be hanging out then. Or even if it's short length of tips of fingers with arms hanging down. That would be much easier to enforce. And wellness degrading to the female students.

[BlueJazz]

13. I'm probably the last person to ask about that. (for a good answer)

I wouldn't want to stifle one's expression of life or fashion. I tend to let live and all that.
But...do teens that age realize that showing a lot of flesh can lead to a persons reputation being smeared...not by yours truly but by her peers.
In a sane world, the women should be allowed to wear what they want and if boys/men want to make something of it, it's THEIR problem.
In a sane world. (told you I was not the one to ask)

[NV Whino]

3. I think this is the key phrase

“If you’re not comfortable with bending over, we might have a problem.”

[ret5hd]

6. What about...

if you aren't comfortable NOT bending over we might have a problem.?

IOW, what if you weren't going to bend over?

[tkmorris]

8. I think my brain just asploded

[NV Whino]

10. Then we don't have a problem

On the other hand, try going through a day and not bending over.

I'm reminded of my younger (slimmer, but let's not go into that) years when miniskirts were the dress du jour. But bending over a drafting table when the entrance was behind me, well…. We took measures to block the boss's view, but bending over and showing of a decent set of legs are two entirely different things.

[eShirl]

9. sounds like something an abuser might say

[eShirl]

11. For one thing, she shouldn't even be using the word "skanks" to students

For another, unless she's qualified & checking for scoliosis, she has no business asking students to bend over in front of her

[pipoman]

15. Maybe, maybe not....

I have always spoke my mind without being lewd or crude, but in terms kids understand...I don't view this as lewd or crude, it is direct.

[chervilant]

12. There is no justification for this.

This principal was completely out of line. I cannot understand how anyone thinks her actions were appropriate.

[winter is coming]

14. Why is the superintendent conducting dress code checks?

This is what the Noble High school handbook for this year says about dress:

Generally, dress and grooming standards as determined by the students and their parents will not be questioned. The only requirements the board of education insists upon are that students' dress and grooming shall not lead school officials to reasonably believe that such dress or grooming will disrupt, interfere with, or detract from school activities, or create a health or other hazard to the student's safety or to the safety of others. Additionally, any clothing that interferes with the education function entrusted to the board of education is prohibited. (70 Oklahoma Statute 6-114 (C); Noble Board of Education, Policy FNCA)
In accordance with the policy of the board of education, the following regulation shall establish a dress and grooming code for the public school system.

Generally, students should regard neatness and cleanliness in grooming and clothing as important. Dress or grooming which is in any way disruptive to the operation of the school will not be permitted.
Revealing or sexually provocative clothing or clothing of extreme style may not be worn.
Principals, in conjunction with sponsors, coaches, or other persons in charge of extracurricular activities, may regulate dress and grooming of students who participate in a particular activity if the principal reasonably believes that the student's dress or grooming creates a hazard, or may prevent, interfere with, or adversely affect the purpose, direction, or effort required for the activity to achieve its goals.

If a student's dress or grooming is objectionable under the above provisions, the principal shall request the student to make appropriate corrections. If the student declines, the principal shall notify the student's parents or legal guardian and request that person to make the necessary correction. If both the student and parent or legal guardian refuse, the principal shall take appropriate disciplinary action.

Students who violate provisions of the dress code and who refuse to correct the violation may be disciplined by removal or exclusion from extracurricular activities. In extreme cases, students may be suspended until the violation is corrected.

I don't see why the superintendent is micromismanaging this. And WTF is this "bend over" test? I've always seen the length restrictions for shorts and skirts expressed as either "fingertip length" or a certain number of inches above the knee.

[pipoman]

16. I suspect it was during a back to school assembly

She probably thought this would help stop problems before they occurred.

[JimDandy]

17. Why are you restating WHERE she said it.

Who cares?

She was not helping...she was creating a problem.

Parents are objecting to her misogynistic and prejudicial focus on female dress and use of the word "skank":

"The incident is just the latest installment in a long line of examples of schools telling girls to cover up so they don’t distract their male peers. Critics worry that these policies teach girls that it’s their responsibility to prevent themselves from being ogled, rather than teaching boys to have the self-control to refrain from objectifying their classmates."

A person in that position of authority should have know better than to discriminate against 1/2 of the student population.

[pipoman]

18. I'm not saying it was brilliant, just not all that atypical

For rural Oklahoma. ..

[JimDandy]

19. Parents there are finding it atypical

enough to try to get her removed. I'll leave it up to their judgment as to what is acceptable or not to them. I'm a former Okie, and it doesn't sit well with me either.

That was some bad timing for her: August 26 is “Women’s Equality Day.”

[Recursion]

21. It's horrible management, though. It undercuts the principal

It's like a colonel giving orders to a platoon. It sends the message to the students that the principal isn't the one really in charge.

[LloydS of New London]

20. She doesn't want them called names?

Well, that's a great way to go about it, Humbertha!

[AzDar]

22. Perhaps she should talk to the students who are saying nasty things about others...

instead of implying that those who are victimized are asking for it.

[JimDandy]

23. Indeed. n/t

[moriah]

24. While the way it was done sucks, if a teenager can't bend over without showing more than they want..

.... then they shouldn't be wearing it to school. And it's not about distracting the boys, it's about distracting yourself every time you friggin' move around, and God forbid if you drop something and have to either bend over or squat and either way show off parts you'd rather the world not see.

Same goes for adults in the workplace.

I have a skirt I love. It's a wraparound sarong. It's comfortable. It fits! It looks perfectly modest when I'm still and so is the wind -- comes to my ankles. But if I wear it on even a slightly breezy day, it's definitely not suitable for the office.