Dress code sparks ire

LEHI — Some students at Lehi High School think a newly announced dress code for formal dances is too strict.

The dress code, which prohibits such wardrobe choices as dresses with spaghetti straps, was put into place by the high school's student government leaders over the summer with the support of the PTA and administration.

The new rules, announced on the first days of school this year, apply to the school's formal events — the prom and this Saturday's homecoming dance.

Like some at the high school, Lehi senior Kyley Burnham said the new rules shouldn't have been imposed. Students, she said, should be allowed to wear whatever they want to wear — even if others wouldn't make the same fashion choice.

"It's a personal opinion," she said. "It should be (students') choice."

Students who violate the policy will be given a jacket to wear. If they won't wear the jackets, they will be sent home, according to school officials.

The school purchased 10 to 20 girls jackets at $10 apiece, principal Chuck Bearce said. "There will be some that will be caught off guard, so to speak, by this dress (code)," Bearce said, "but it will not be a majority."

Lehi junior Kara Holbrook found what she considered the perfect dress for the homecoming dance — but it's strapless. On Tuesday night, she and her mother attached beads to a jacket they purchased to accommodate the dress code.

"I'm kind of frustrated because there's not that many people that break the rules, so it's more like punishing the girls who follow the dress code and follow the rules, and it's one more rule we have to follow" she said. "I have to deal with it, so we might as well make the best of it."

A dress code was in place last year — but it wasn't as strict.

Student body president Darci Downs said she heard complaints from boys at the school about the manner in which some girls dressed. Downs said she spent hours calling other schools and considering their dress codes before proposing the new one.

"The girls think it's cute to be like that," she said. "The boys think it's made them uncomfortable."

The student government's leadership with the dress code is an example of democracy as they were elected to represent the students, Bearce said.

Last spring, a community organization organized a fashion show for modest clothing in the school's auditorium, Bearce said.