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There was some disagreement at the Chambers County School Board’s Wednesday meeting. The board members were split on whether to adopt the proposed 2025-2026 school code of conduct, and more specifically, the dress code policy. 

CCSD Superintendent Sharon Weldon and staff worked on the updated policy before the meeting and the revisions were sent to the board members two weeks prior to the Wednesday business meeting. 

“We’ve tried to line some things…find a couple of places where we have to make some tweaks, just make sure it lines up with our policies,” Weldon said. 

Jay Siggers asked to table the adoption of the code of conduct to a later date, citing the dress code as his main concern. 

“I think we should table until we discuss what children are going to wear to school… We came to a meeting and listened to what principals had to say, and that’s not what I heard the principal say,” Siggers said, referring to a past meeting with the district principals on their thoughts of the proposed dress code. 

The proposal allows for a greater variety of colors and fabric types than during the previous school years, which had a “school uniform.” 

According to the 2022-2023 School Uniform Guidelines, students were required to wear “solid polo/golf shirt OR button front oxford shirt, blouses with collar and sleeves (long or short sleeves allowed), solid colors limited to white, black, navy blue, red or gray.”

Pants had to be khaki, black or navy, with fabric like blue blue jeans or denim, leggings, or jeggings prohibited. 

The proposal would allow for denim and spirit wear, while still banning any graphic tees. Students would still need to wear solid color T-shirts. The approved colors for shirts and pants have been extended. Hoodies would also be allowed. However, students would not be allowed to wear the hood in school. 

Siggers argued that the dress code was not explicit enough in what the kids could and could not wear and that it did not reflect the comments made by principals and staff members at the policy meeting. 

“It’s like you’re giving [principals], you know, this much stuff to police, versus [allowing only] red, blue, black, green,” Siggers said. “I’m not saying that you’re not right…But they acted like their voice is not being heard at all.”

Board chairperson Vicki Leak agreed that parents will need more guidance than the proposed policy provides. Leak brought up suggestions to Weldon when the proposal was sent out two weeks ago, which were adopted on Wednesday. 

Weldon responded that the proposal is meeting both sides in the middle by doing away with a uniform but still enforcing a dress code. She added that it would better reflect the preferences of the parents and students. Two board members, Jennifer Hunt and Candace Lyons, who are both parents to students in the district, agreed with the preference to relax the policy.

Hunt worried about tabling the proposal to a later date. She said her constituents have been asking for the new dress code policy so they can do back-to-school shopping. 

“I don’t think we can table it too long, because people are wanting to buy the school clothes. When you have multiple children, you have to start early,” Hunt said. 

CCSD Executive Assistant, Cookie Thomas, said the adoption of the code of conduct can not wait until the next meeting, as the school needs to finalize it before sending it to the printer. She added that a meeting could be scheduled before the regular meeting. 

While Siggers and Reco Newton voted to table the discussion, the rest of the board members voted against it, so the tabling failed. 

Due to school board procedures, they had to vote to adopt or not adopt the entire code of conduct on Wednesday, rather than just voting on the dress code policy. 

That vote failed as well, with Leak, Newton and Siggers voting against adopting the code of conduct as presented, and Hunt, Lyons and LaShae Herring voting to adopt. This means the board will have to meet again to discuss changes and vote on the code of conduct this summer. The meeting is scheduled for June 4.