School district's updated dress code protects Philadelphia students' self-expression

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The new school year came with a new dress code for students in the School District of Philadelphia.

It makes more room for students to express themselves without fear of discrimination.

"It was effective as of the first day of school," said Rachel Holzman, who serves as the Deputy Chief in the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities at the School District of Philadelphia of the district's new dress code.

"I think we are one of the first large districts to explicitly put this in a code," she said.

It's not uncommon for the district to make small adjustments to the dress code before each school year, but this year, the changes are far more noticeable. The School District of Philadelphia updated its Code of Conduct to expressly lay out what is acceptable under the district's dress code.

One of those changes expressly states that students who don cultural and protective hairstyles won't be discriminated against or penalized.

As stated in the updated dress code, those styles include: "braids, locs, puffs, afros, twists, wigs, including styles with elements such as headbands, head wraps, bonnets, barrettes or beads."

The policy gets the approval of parents like Gina Campbell who has three children in the school district.

"Even though I wear my hair in locs, braids or afro puffs, I'm still not gonna be judged or looked at differently," she said of the mindset that the new dress code could give kids when it comes to confidence.

"It's really very much steeped in cultural competence and respecting everyone's culture," said Holzman.

The dress code also protects religious clothing and students' rights to dress in accordance with their gender identity.

"We made it very explicit that there can be no discipline for that," said Holzman.

The clarifications came about with input from students and parents.

"I think students should wear what they're comfortable with. As long as they're learning, they should wear whatever they want to wear," said Sharon Mayers who has grandchildren in the school district.

While medical masks are allowed, the dress code does still ban ski masks.

"The only thing we prohibit is an entire face covering because that's a safety issue," said Holzman.

The updated dress code is already getting the attention of equal rights advocates.

"They are trying to promote this around the country," Holzman said of the advocates who have spoken to a group working with the school district.

The goal is to let all students be themselves.

"Everyone comes in who they are," said Campbell, "and we accept them for who they are."

The school district is hosting forums at different schools to educate students and administrators about the new dress code. You can find the dress code and the entire Philadelphia School District Code of Conduct here: https://www.philasd.org/studentrights/wp-content/uploads/sites/67/2024/06/Code-of-Conduct-24-25-1.pdf