Girls singled out for dress code violations, Andress students say

A handful of students at Andress High School attempted to protest the dress code on campus Tuesday morning.

Students told ABC-7 they were asked not to hold a protest by Andress administrators and then told to go meet with the principal.

“Basically we’re trying to start a protest against the dress code because we feel its very sexualizing and its demeaning to girls,” explained Andress senior Michaela James. “They’re humiliating us by taking us out of class and that says our education is not as important as what we are wearing.”

James told ABC-7 her school’s dress code implies “girls are the distraction and we need to change instead of teaching guys to focus on their work or whatever. So, they’re making us leave class and making us change and adapt to what is better and more convenient for the guys.”

“They’re basically sexualizing body parts – like our shoulders,” James added, “If we show any part of our shoulders, that’s offensive to them and we’re asked to change.”

James said she does not want the dress code to imply girls are making teachers uncomfortable and distracting boys. “In all honesty, it doesn’t make sense for our clothes to be an issue when there’s a lot more problems at school/ I want our education to be the focus, rather than what we’re wearing.”

According to the school web site, examples of dress code violations include, but are not limited to the following:

Tall tees Sleepwear Exposed undergarments Doo-rags and sagging pants Oversized baggy pants Ttank tops that expose the underarm Shorts or skirts that are shorter than the mid-thigh Dare midriff tops that expose the stomach and/or mid-section Low-cut shirts or blouses Strapless or spaghetti straps blouses See-through clothing Slits that go above the mid-thigh and bareback clothing

Andress Junior Raymond Calero told ABC-7 a girl wearing shorts deemed too short was taken out of calculus class. “She missed a whole period of calculus because she was deemed to be too sexual, which infuriates me,” Calero said, “They stress that our education is so important, yet they take us out, and we miss a whole period. There has to be other ways to do this.”

Calero’s mother, Cherish, told ABC-7 she is upset students are missing class because they have to change clothes. “It’s too subjective. It just depends on who stops that child, at that particular time, and claims he or she is breaking dress code.”

EPISD sent ABC-7 the following statement: “Andress, like all other EPISD schools, communicates details of its dress code through the student handbook all students and parents sign at the beginning of each school year. The district respects student individuality. However, dress codes allow administrators to maintain order and decorum and keep the focus of school on instruction and student success.”