Aug 27, 2008 7:38 pm US/Eastern
Newark Schools To Implement Uniform Policy
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEWARK (CBS) ―
Change is coming to students in Newark. This year school officials plan to institute a uniform policy and plan to go district wide in just a few years.
Newark parent Michelle Jackson told CBS 2 HD that when her two children were forced to wear uniforms at another school out of state, they were not happy about it.
"They hated it," she said.
Despite their objections, Jackson said she's actually looking forward to suiting them up again, this time in the Newark school system which just announced it too will adopt a uniform policy.
"It's very easy on the pocket," Jackson beamed.
The new schools superintendant Dr. Clifford Janey, who was hired last month feels uniforms have a positive impact on student behavior in and out of school.
"It helps a student's readiness to learn. It helps promote a better school climate and school pride. It brings a better connection between home and school," Dr. Janey said.
"It's like church or something," Newark 8th grader Dashon Smith said. "Because everybody gotta wear the same clothes."
Because the decision came so late in the summer, Newark won't be able to start the program until December.
This year the uniform policy will be voluntary in the elementary schools. Next year, it will be voluntary in the high schools. And the year after that, Dr. Janey hopes to make the uniform policy mandatory for the entire school district.
Parents say they hope the uniforms will neutralize the gang mentality that so often dictates what students wear and how they wear it.
"It makes them focus more on what they have to do in school than what the next person is wearing. And I tell you, I cannot stand to see nobody's underwear with their pants hanging down halfway across their butt," Newark resident Anthony Exum told CBS 2 HD.
"In a school setting, it's more convenient for the teachers and everybody else in the neighborhood," Jackson added.
To make the transition easier, Newark school officials say they are limiting the cost to about $20 a uniform.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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