Recently, free-dress days have been unclear to the student body. Announcements were confusing, indecisive and misleading. The main issue is that information has not arrived clearly or often.

For example, Oct. 25 was somewhat of a free dress day if students wore red to support red-ribbon week. Bondy announced on the PA that technically it was not a “free dress” day, but a day that students could wear jeans if they wore a red collared shirt. Had the students read the bulletin, they would have seen that the information was different from the announcements.

The bulletin stated, “You must be wearing red to wear jeans.” Obviously the students heard two different guidelines: one, students were allowed to wear jeans if they wore a red collared shirt; and two, students were allowed to wear jeans if they just wore red. It’s either the announcements were wrong, or the bulletin was not precise on what type of red material was acceptable.

One student claimed that she arrived in school wearing red shoes, but not a red collared shirt. “Ms. Kortoshian stopped me to check on my red, and I showed her my red shoes but she said it had to be a red collar or shirt,” the student, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Ms. Kortoshian took my name and said she would check with the office if what I was wearing was okay. I haven’t gotten any word back yet. Plus, I heard that Ms. Howe emailed teachers saying it can just be red, anything red.” The student heard wrong since Ms. Susan Howe, Counselor, stated “It is possible I sent an email to a teacher, I honestly don’t remember. But, as I stated, wearing something red means predominantly red, not token red which is exactly what people do that try to take advantage of special free dress days.” Maybe the bulletin should have said, “red shirt” instead of plainly saying “red” to avoid confusion.

It seems like the teachers were focused on the red material students were wearing, when they should have also paid attention to the type of pants students were wearing. The announcements and the bulletin clearly stated that students were allowed to wear jeans if they wore a red collared shirt, yet some people wore tights, printed skirts, and other material that clearly was not jeans. These people were not dress coded, according to a friend I asked who wore tights that day.

The confusion may continue since information is not quickly given, according to Counseling Secretary Becky Bondy. “I mean, I just announce what I am told. Sometimes I don’t have enough time to edit on the bulletin, so I just make the announcement,” she said.

For future reference, if the administration decides to allow a free dress day, the information should be updated in the bulletin, emailed to teachers to announce and even announced on the PA. No changes should even be made last minute, because it adds further confusion.

After the decision has been made, the information about free dress days need to be finalized before being announced on the PA. Since Ms. Bondy is in charge of the bulletin and some announcements, the information should be delivered to her quickly so she may have time to edit the bulletin or plan her announcement. Other than the bulletin and the announcements, the school calendar on the website should also be modified and updated frequently. By improving communication, free dress days would run more smoothly.