HARRISBURG, Pa. — With the 2023-24 school year quickly approaching, Harrisburg School District just announced some big changes.
The district announced Tuesday that the dress code is being advised in order to move away from school uniforms.
The decision was made based on several factors, including the costliness of buying both uniform clothing and casual clothing, student desire to have more say over what they wear to school, the availability of uniforms in all sizes and students being excluded from school because they didn't wear their uniforms.
In a district-wide survey, about 75% of the 1,000 parents and students who responded said they were in favor of moving away from a school uniform.
According to the district, other school districts with similar demographic profiles to Harrisburg that have made this move have not seen increases in student discipline issues as a result of this change, and have found the change has actually made students feel better about attending school.
Students may wear their own clothes moving forward, but the following items are still not allowed:
- No hooded shirts or sweatshirts
- No tank tops, halter tops, or spaghetti string tops
- No offensive graphics or images on any clothing
- No sheer, translucent, or lace on the torso
- For pants, no tears or rips on pants above the knee
- No visible undergarments or boxer shorts worn on the outside
- Pants must not be saggy below the waist
- For footwear – no Crocs, flip-flops, slides, slippers, open-toed shoes, or high heels above 1 inch
- No hats, caps, bandannas, sunglasses, visors, or face masks unless medically necessary or for religious reasons.
For examples of what is acceptable to wear and what is not, click here.
The district also noted the public should be aware of a security change for the 2023-24 school year.
All visitors will be required to present a valid driver’s license or other state-issued identification when arriving at each of our schools and buildings. That will be scanned and checked against the sexual offender database.
Visitors who are cleared will receive a printed ID badge that includes their photo, name, and barcode. This process will take less than a minute and should help to increase safety and security in our school.
