By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

About 50 people were on hand last Monday night for Whiteville Primary School’s public forum on the uniform policy proposed by the Whiteville City Schools Board of Education.

WPS Principal Lynn Spaulding welcomed guests and went over the ground rules, which limited speakers to three minutes each.

“I’m not opposed to the uniform policy,” said Fabian Hewett, the first speaker. “I think it could be a good idea if done properly. Will the teachers and staff also be required to follow this uniform policy? I believe that leadership should be done through example.”

Hewett said that from time to time, he has seen female staff members or school employees who were wearing lower cut tops than what he will let one of his daughters wear when they get older.

Alan High said that while he and his wife, Elizabeth, support uniforms, they have some concerns.

“My feeling is that the board’s uniform policy should be implemented on a uniform basis throughout system, not allowing each school to choose its own policy.”

High said he would like to see some choice of bottom clothing for girls so they can be comfortable in the different seasons.

He also asked the board to take into consideration that some parents would like or need additional vendors to find the best fitting clothing for their children. He cited his own children who have builds too thin for clothing their own age.
“It’s difficult to find properly fitting clothing,” he said.

He disagreed with the “special days,” where students don’t have to wear uniforms.

“You don’t need to get away from the reason you have uniforms,” he said.

Tia Reeves is against uniforms.

“I am trying to teach (my daughter) that she needs to interact in all social levels,” Reeves said. “No one is better than anyone else. My concern is that we want them to be all they can be and then conform by dressing the same. I think uniforms are Band-Aids. The root of the problem is at home. Parents allow their children to be exposed to things I would never allow them to be exposed to.”

She said that as a small business owner, she is also concerned with the possible outsourcing of uniforms.

She asked the board to give people who have supported this community the chance to provide uniforms.

“We owe them that, they have given so much,” she said. “We support either way. These are just my thoughts.”

LaDonna Stoll said she will support a decision either way.

“I do think that this is a Band Aid for the situation we have,” she said. “I think if you implement the uniform policy you are going to take away some of their own personalities. I don’t think children should have full reign about what they wear. There should be structure at home on what to wear.

“People express themselves by how they choose to clothe themselves,” she said. “I do think that the pants would be a bad idea in the summer. I also have a question about the Whiteville Primary School shirts with logos. Will that cut into PTA’s school shirts sales? What will be done about that?”

“I oppose the dress code for the young kids,” said Catherine Pierce. “I think that this is a public school. If this going to be a private school, then make it a private school.”

She asked about students who can’t afford uniforms or who have only one set. She asked what would happen if they came to school without a uniform because “Mama didn’t wash it?”

“We shouldn’t ask kids to do something that we didn’t do ourselves,” she said. “Just because there’s violence in the schools, we make all the kids wear them.

“No mater what happens, the board probably has already decided that the uniforms are in.”
“Have you decided?” she asked the board.

Superintendent Randy Shaver told Piece that the board was holding its comments.

Drew Cox, who spoke the previous week at Edgewood, said he supported uniforms.

He repeated his concern about too many loopholes in the proposed uniform policy that would allow students and parents to get around the rules.

“Those need to be really well spelled out,” he said.

Charles Reaves, the final speaker, said he wanted to see teachers follow the same dress code.

“(There are) staff members wearing low-cut shirts where you can see about all that they’ve got,” he said, adding that he didn’t think the uniform code would help too much, other than remove some distractions.