
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 17, 1994                   TAG: 9412190070
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

TEACHERS' GROUP BLASTS PROPOSED DRESS CODE

The president of the Education Association of Norfolk says a proposed dress code for teachers at a middle school will turn school administrators into ``fashion police.''

Charlene Christopher blasted the proposed code, championed by Ruffner Middle School Principal Pamela Hoffler-Riddick, at a meeting Thursday of the Norfolk School Board.

``EAN urges the administration to put a quick halt to any `charm school' dress code before we have a major morale and personnel problem on our hands,'' Christopher said.

Drafted by a committee of six Ruffner teachers and an image consultant hired by the school, the code would discourage teachers from wearing ``distracting'' clothing or ``exotic'' hairstyles.

Leather and denim, for example, would be forbidden, as would the dreadlocks hairstyle.

Women would be asked to cover their cleavage and watch that their dress hemlines are not too short. Men, in turn, would have to avoid trousers that are too tight and shirts that stretch over their abdomens.

Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. said after Thursday's meeting that he has not talked with Hoffler-Riddick about the dress code, but said he was concerned that a policy too specific or restrictive would be open to legal challenge.

Last January, Nichols wrote an article for an in-house publication about the importance of presenting a professional image. In it, he endorsed ``proper dress'' for employees but stopped short of calling for a mandatory dress code.

The dress-code proposal grew out of efforts by Hoffler-Riddick, a first-year principal at Ruffner, to improve the school's public image.

Ruffner draws heavily from several of the city's public housing neighborhoods and has developed a reputation as a rough, low-achieving school, she said.

Hoffler-Riddick said she initiated the project after hearing teachers complain about a lack of respect from students and the community. She also said parents have expressed concern about teachers wearing sloppy or sexually suggestive clothes to school.

by CNB