About 40 Alachua County public school students convened at the the Kirby Smith Center on Tuesday to protest the new countywide school dress code policy.
For almost an hour, the protesters lined University Avenue and chanted slogans such as, “We won’t conform; no uniforms!”
One sign, citing Billy Joel’s song “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” read, “What’s the matter with the clothes I’m wearing?” Another read, “You can’t legislate what you can’t provide.”
Though a majority of the protesters were high-school students, 11-year-old Amber Gillette represented Williams Elementary with a sign that said, “I’m getting punished for the rules I don’t break.”
Eileen Roy, one of the two school board members who voted against the policy, attended the protest.
“To be fair, the people who voted for this policy felt that doing so would enhance academic performance,” she said. “I have not seen evidence that links wearing uniforms with increase in academic performance.”
Alachua County school board candidate Chris Smiley said the policy may cause unforeseen consequences.
“Why did we let this happen?” he said. “There’s no reason to implement it if it’s going to force an undue financial burden on students and parents.”
Sara Bicknell, one of the protest organizers, said the new policy might be financially difficult for her family.
“I live with a single mom who works on a teacher’s salary,” she said. “She’s raising four kids. She doesn’t have enough to get all new wardrobes for all of us. It’s just unrealistic.”
In order to have the policy removed, some students are prepared to go to even more drastic measures than just protesting outside the Kirby Smith Center.
Bicknell said she and her peers are discussing a uniform boycott. If enough students participated, she said, the faculty would have no way of enforcing the policy.
“You have to keep protesting,” she said. “People have to keep boycotting for weeks or else it’s not going to change anything.”
The same group is organizing another protest for Tuesday, when the school board will hold a meeting.
