An Illinois school district is struggling with distance learning dress codes, and is discouraging students from wearing pajamas while attending online classes.
The Springfield Public Schools Board of Education this week approved the district’s new handbook, which applies dress codes in person to distance learning institutions, NBC News reported.
“We do not need students in pajamas and all that other stuff while they are at their Zoom conference,” School Support Director Jason Wind said during a virtual board meeting on Monday.
Students will also be required to get out of their beds and attend lessons while sitting at home in a chair, upright and attentive to the instructor’s lessons.
The manual states, “Hats, caps, bandanas, caps of any type, sweatbands, sunglasses, pajama pants, slippers, or shoes with wheels at the bottom shall not be worn in buildings,” and are applicable as virtual classes are in session.
“In our usual code for student clothing, it actually states that pajama pants and so on are not acceptable school clothes,” Wind said.
Board member Judith Ann Johnson told NBC that students would be more focused if they were dressed and seated to reflect typical class expectations.
“If you’re nicely dressed, you can perform better,” she said, adding that wearing pajamas at class shows, “you don’t take it seriously.”
However, Johnson said the dress code would be flexible in the same way that typical dress codes apply if the school has personal sessions.
“We do not intend to be punishable or prescribe what students wear at home during distance learning, especially during this period of uncertainty and adjustment for students, families and staff,” she said. “If there is a specific concern, because it relates to dress code, we will address it individually with the student and her family.”
.
