State legislators in Iowa and South Dakota are mulling changes to what students wear in school and how technology can be used.
In the Iowa Legislature, a bill advanced by a House subcommittee on Monday would subject K12 students to statewide dress code rules.
Clothing with words or images that promote illegal activities would not be allowed. Neither would what the bill calls “gang-related” attire.
Undergarments and midriffs also couldn’t be exposed and clothing would have to promote personal hygiene, neatness and modesty.
Democratic Representative Angel Ramirez, of Cedar Rapids, said “modesty” can mean different things to people. Republican Representative Samantha Fett, of Carlisle, said the bill is meant to be a baseline of minimum standards, “kind of similar to the cell phone bill that we passed last year.”
Concerning mobile phones usage in South Dakota schools, a bill banning phone use during all school hours passed out of a committee on Tuesday.
That bill is sponsored by Senate Pro Tem Chris Karr, who said cell phones can be an addiction, and have reached a point of directly hurting the state’s test scores and student performance.
Karr said, “What it does, if you look at the language of the bill, it’s very simple and short, but it does say ‘may not use a cell phone during the day.’ However, the school board gets to determine what that looks like.”
South Dakota Secretary of Education Joe Graves said the issue should be decided by individual districts..
Graves said, “There are few one-size-fits-all solutions, and we believe it, because South Dakotans are ornery cusses who don’t want to be told what to do.”
