No more hoodies, policy change sparks debate in Ascension Parish community

GEISMAR, La. (BRPROUD) – A letter to the parents of Dutchtown High School students is creating a lot of conversation in the community.

One parent who has multiple students at Dutchtown High School shared a copy of the letter which you can find below:

Good afternoon Griffin Parents,

We hope you and your Griffin are enjoying the first few days of summer. We wanted to reach out and inform you of some upcoming changes to our dress code and student parking protocols. Attached to this email is a copy of the letter that we sent home with report cards yesterday. Although the letters are lengthy, they contain a wealth of information about the changes we are implementing to enhance our safety protocols.

Thank you and have a great summer!

A pdf followed the above message and its contents are provided below:

So how did this change come about at Dutchtown High School?

Jackie Tisdell, Public Information Officer for Ascension Public Schools, “Dutchtown High School administration created a staff task force around the dress code to address parent and staff complaints and ongoing safety issues related to compliance with and enforcement of the high school dress code.”

According to the Ascension Public Schools PIO, this recent decision is not unique to Dutchtown High School.

Tisdell says that East Ascension High did indeed make this change last year.

This letter has led to an ongoing dialogue in the Ascension Parish community.

There are those in the community that say this is a good change as kids apparently put AirPods in their ears and then listen to music while hiding in their hoodies.

Others consider hoodies a safety issue while some wonder why schools are worrying about hoodies when there are other pressing issues.

For some parents, one issue that lingers is paying a lot of money for these hoodies this past year when it was ok to wear them in school and then now being stuck with them and their kids not being able to wear them next year.

The Ascension Public Schools PIO is emphasizing that the ban on hoodies does not include outside of school or at extracurricular events.”

Tisdell concluded by saying that “Students and or families who have financial needs and may require assistance with dress code or any other school-related obligations should reach out to their grade level administrator.”