Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – More than 50 students gathered outside the Warren County Courthouse on Sunday to protest against the Warren County School District’s dress code and “sexualization” in enforcement against girls at Beaty Warren Middle School.
See video:
“It’s been around for a long time and times are changing,” Attie Corey said. “So the dress code needs to change.”
“We were very directed in the way that they did it,” Sierra Craig added. “They just went after every girl that they saw wearing shorts.”
Most of the students protesting attend Beaty, where dozens of students, primarily girls, were sent home on multiple days last week for dress code violations.
“It feels to me like the girls are being corralled into the lobby and stocked in every morning like cattle,” Emily Hecei, a parent, said. “That’s what they’re being treated like.”
The WCSD dress code as it appears on page 40 of the Student Handbook:
The issue became such a hot-button topic at Beaty that parents were sent call/message blasts reminding them to make sure their students adhere to the dress code.
Students and parents were taken aback by the sudden emphasis on dress code enforcement.
“Our biggest issue is the enforcement,” Shawn Ristau, a parent, said. “What these kids wore to school on their first day was fine. They wore the same outfits this past Friday or Thursday, and they were sent home. Our kids have actually felt like they’ve been sexualized, we’ve got kids that are genuinely worried about going to school, which should be a safe place.
“We have kids that rely on going to school for their breakfast, we have kids that are relying on school for their education, which this is denying. It’s not that we’re against a dress code, we’re against the current dress code. And more importantly, the enforcement that was taking place. It has definitely been more sexualization.”
Photos by Brian Hagberg:
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”102″ gal_title=”Student Protest April 16, 2023″]
The confusion, for the girls at least, grew because their male classmates weren’t subject to the same discipline.
“There were guys wearing muscle shirts, and they never even got dress-coded,” Corey said.
There were several boys among the protestors holding signs reading, “I am not distracted.” Craig said that only further proves that the dress code is due for an update.
“It kind of shows that the only people that are distracted are the school board and the teachers who think that it’s a distraction, but the guys aren’t feeling distracted,” Craig said.
“Glad to see boys here and dads here,” Hecei added. “It’s not just women. This isn’t just an issue for women or girls. It’s an issue for everybody.”
School board president Paul Mangione told Your Daily Local in a text message Sunday that he has “not had time to look into the issue in detail” because he’s been out of town the past few days, but was “confident” a quick resolution can be found.
“From the limited amount I have been able to see on social media, it seems the protest was well attended and the students were very prepared and respectful,” Mangione said. “I am confident that this issue can be resolved sooner versus later.”
To that end, Beaty parents received the following message blast on Friday:
Both students and parents are hopeful that their voices can provoke change, not only to the dress code itself, but to the way it’s enforced.
“First of all, there needs to be a clear policy and procedure for what happens when the dress code is broken. And there really isn’t,” Hecei said.
For their part, the students plan on addressing the board directly.
“We’re gonna go and attend the school board meeting and we are going to talk and hopefully have the dress code changed a little bit or maybe not as harshly as they’re implementing it,” Craig said.
School board committee meetings will be held at Central Office at 6 p.m. on April 24. The next full board meeting is set for May 8.
