HB 0679

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to Orange County; providing legislative
3	findings; requiring the Orange County School Board to
4	adopt a dress code policy that requires students to wear a
5	schoolwide uniform; providing for implementation;
6	providing an effective date.
7
8	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10	Section 1.  (1)  The Legislature finds and declares the
11	following:
12	(a)  This act shall apply only to Orange County.
13	(b)  The children of Orange County have the right to an
14	effective public school education. Both students and staff of
15	public elementary, middle, and high school campuses have the
16	constitutional right to be safe and secure in their persons at
17	school. However, children in many of our public schools are
18	forced to focus on the threat of violence and the messages of
19	violence contained in many aspects of our society, particularly
20	reflected in gang regalia that disrupts the learning
21	environment.
22	(c)  Gang-related apparel is hazardous to the health and
23	safety of the school environment.
24	(d)  Instructing teachers and administrators on the
25	subtleties of identifying constantly changing gang regalia and
26	gang affiliation takes an increasing amount of time away from
27	educating our children.
28	(e)  Weapons, including firearms and knives, have become
29	commonplace upon even our elementary school campuses. Students
30	often conceal weapons by wearing clothing, such as jumpsuits and
31	overcoats, and by carrying large bags.
32	(f)  The adoption of a schoolwide uniform policy is a
33	reasonable way to provide some protection for students. A
34	required uniform may protect students from being associated with
35	any particular gang. Moreover, by requiring schoolwide uniforms,
36	teachers and administrators may not need to occupy as much of
37	their time learning the subtleties of gang regalia.
38	(g)  To control the environment in public schools, to
39	facilitate and maintain an effective learning environment, and
40	to keep the focus of the classroom on learning and not personal
41	safety, schools need the authorization to implement uniform
42	clothing requirements for our public school children.
43	(h)  Many educators believe that school dress significantly
44	influences student behavior. This influence is evident on school
45	dress-up days and color days. Schools that have adopted school
46	uniforms experience a feeling of coming together, greater school
47	pride, and improved student behavior in and out of the
48	classroom.
49	(2)(a)  The Orange County School Board shall adopt a
50	reasonable dress code policy that requires students in the
51	public elementary, middle, and high schools in the school
52	district to wear a schoolwide uniform. The dress code policy
53	shall be implemented no later than August 1, 2006.
54	(b)  The dress code policy shall not preclude students that
55	participate in a nationally recognized youth organization from
56	wearing organization uniforms on days that the organization has
57	a scheduled meeting.
58	(c)  The dress code policy shall provide for a dress-down
59	day each school year according to policy guidelines.
60	(3)  The Orange County School Board shall not be
61	responsible for the purchase of school uniforms for indigent
62	students. However, the school board may authorize programs to
63	promote donations of funds and/or uniforms to assist indigent
64	student.
65	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.