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Discussion: Clovis Unified's Controversial Dress Code

Courtesy of Emma Sledd
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https://twitter.com/EmmaSledd

In January, teenage boys in the Central Valley city of Clovis showed up to school in dresses and girls wore pants as well as caps to hide their hair. They were protesting Clovis Unified's decision to keep it's controversial out-of-date dress code.

Credit Courtesy of Mariah Crespin / https://twitter.com/MariahCOfficial
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https://twitter.com/MariahCOfficial

The dress code doesn't allow boys to wear earrings or to keep their hair below their earlobes. The proposed update would give the same standards for all students, but Clovis Unified School District trustees voted  4-3 against the policy update.  

To tell us more about the controversy we are joined by Fresno Bee Education Reporter  Mackenzie Mays  who has covered the issue extensively. She told Joe Moore on Valley Edition that the proposal for change was sparked by Buchanan High student William Pleasant's complaints against the district saying that he wasn't allowed to enroll his senior year because his hair was too long. Later, the ACLU got involved. 

Lois Henrywith The Bakersfield Californian also joined Moore on Valley Edition. She grew up in the Clovis Unified system and said in a recent columnthat she came up against the dress code when she was a teenager. 

Credit Courtesy of Lois Henry / https://twitter.com/loishenry
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https://twitter.com/loishenry

To listen to the interview click play above. 

Joe Moore is the President and General Manager of KVPR / Valley Public Radio. He has led the station through major programming changes, the launch of KVPR Classical and the COVID-19 pandemic. Under his leadership the station was named California Non-Profit of the Year by Senator Melissa Hurtado (2019), and won a National Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting (2022).
Ezra David Romero is an award-winning radio reporter and producer. His stories have run on Morning Edition, Morning Edition Saturday, Morning Edition Sunday, All Things Considered, Here & Now, The Salt, Latino USA, KQED, KALW, Harvest Public Radio, etc.
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