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

DATE: SATURDAY, December 24, 1994                   TAG: 9412270097
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ROANOKE TEACHERS NOT WORRIED BY NORFOLK DRESS CODE PROPOSAL

Usually, it's dress codes for students that attract attention and generate controversy.

But teachers are at the center of a controversy over a proposed dress code in Norfolk. It would prohibit teachers from wearing sexually suggestive clothes and exotic hairstyles.

The Norfolk teachers complain that school administrators will become fashion police if the proposal is adopted.

In the Roanoke Valley, there has been no recent controversy about teachers' dress. But school administrators and teachers are closely watching the Norfolk case to see what, if any, implications it might have for them.

Salem has a dress code for teachers, but it is a general policy that requires teachers to dress appropriately and in keeping with community standards. There are no references to sexually suggestive attire.

Salem's code does not provide any details on what is acceptable or unacceptable dress, said Superintendent Wayne Tripp. The teachers' dress must show proper regard for their profession, but the code doesn't define it, he said.

In Roanoke County, there is no dress code for teachers, but teachers' attire can become an issue in their annual job evaluation.

"There is a space on the evaluation form where principals can deal with a teacher's dress if they wish," said Deanna Gordon, Roanoke County's superintendent.

Gordon said the dress issue can best be resolved on an individual basis. She said there have been no problems with it.

"Nobody dictates to us what we can wear," said Richard Kelly, president of the Roanoke County Education Association.

Kelly, a science teacher at William Byrd High School, said principals generally tell teachers what they expect in dress.

Roanoke does not have a dress code for teachers, but teachers are expected to dress professionally.

"We've never had a problem with it," said Gary Stultz, executive vice president of the Roanoke Education Association.

"It is left up to the principals. I've worked at several schools, and the principals say what they expect," Stultz said. "We've never had a problem with it, as far I know."

The proposed dress code in Norfolk would require women to cover their cleavage and watch that their dress hemlines are not too short.

Male teachers would have to avoid trousers that are too tight and shirts that stretch over their abdomens.