The Fountain Hills Unified School District dress code is in the middle of a reboot, with High School Principal Tom Brennan presenting a revised version of the regulation during the April 27 Governing Board meeting.

Brennan explained that several factors led to this action being taken, including parents and teachers expressing a variety of concerns. Topics included that the dress code was too vague, not rigorously enforced and that, at the high school level, the dress code was not consistent with Governing Board regulations.

Multiple groups of stakeholders tackled the issue, beginning with a review of the current dress code before discussion and revisions were proposed. A variety of board regulations and dress codes from peer districts were also considered, with the committee eventually coming to rest on a collection of proposed recommendations.

For starters, the committee recommended a collection of changes be applied to FHUSD Governing Board Policy JICA-R, as well as revisions to the FHHS dress code as it appears in the student handbook.

Brennan stated that many areas of the code were outdated or simply no longer applied, and that changes would address those issues while hopefully making the dress code easier to follow, as well as enforce

One example he gave was that the student dress code called for “only tailored shorts and skirts that are hemmed may be worn,” something that simply doesn’t fly in a modern school.

If the changes to the dress code are approved, Brennan stated he will launch a “comprehensive communication plan” to inform students, parents and staff. The Board will vote on the proposed changes at a future meeting.

As for enforcement, Brennan said he will leave it to the 2016-17 administrative team to create a realistic enforcement plan. As he will be leaving the district, Brennan said he did not think it would be fair to create a plan that he would not have a part in upholding.