City Council seeks to unify school dress codes across New York City

NEW YORK (PIX11) – The City Council is tackling the way students dress for school in all five boroughs.

Lawmakers announced on Thursday that they want parents and their children to have a more streamlined understanding of what students should wear to class. The current policy allows each school to have its own dress code.

The City Council has proposed to create one standard to apply across the board to comply with Title IV, the federal civil rights law that bars discrimination based on gender.

Some schools have gotten feedback that their individual policies are discriminatory against some students. Some councilmembers have expressed there is unequal enforcement of policies; at times unfairly targeting LGBTQIA+ students and students of color.

The proposal specifically calls for a more inclusive policy that "accounts for diverse cultures, gender expressions and body diversity."

City Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala told PIX11 News in a statement,

"Uneven dress code policies in New York City public schools have led to disproportionate discipline and consequences for students simply expressing themselves. My hope is that this transparency will bring us towards consistent, inclusive and fair policies across our school system that do not unjustly target our students."

The Department of Education will work with the City Council to craft new guidelines for the students' dress code.

The mayor's office told PIX11 News in a statement,

"Per NYC Public Schools’ Dress Code Guidelines, dress codes are decided at the individual school level and require that schools examine their reasoning and justification for their respective policies, and schools must consider evolving generational, cultural, social, and identity norms. Also, dress codes must be gender-neutral and cannot prohibit certain types of clothing that are stereotypically associated with one gender, and they must be implemented equally and in a non-discriminatory manner."