This year, Stamford's K.T. Murphy School did it. Now the Board of Education is considering the possibility. Uniform dress, as a districtwide option, will be discussed at 7 tonight at the Government Center, 888 Washington Blvd.
"It's just the very beginning of the conversation," said Jackie Heftman, Stamford school board president. "It appears to be something some schools want to do."
And some residents want it, too.
"I think it would change the focus [toward] learning," said Jack Bryant, president of the local NAACP branch. "Some of our students are more interested in the latest fashion than why they're in school."
Bryant brought up the issue and led to its addition on tonight's agenda, said Heftman.
"I thought it was a good idea for us to respond," she said.
Since broaching the subject, Bryant said he has received emails and telephone calls from people who have misunderstood his idea. First, Bryant said, he doesn't consider school uniforms a cure for closing the achievement gap between students of different racial and economic groups.
"There are a lot of things that have to come into place before the achievement gap is closed," said Bryant. These include social, economic and family issues that donning uniforms would not resolve.
School uniforms could, however, influence a student's mindset, helping him or her to concentrate more on learning than following the latest clothing trends, said Bryant.
Also, he said he isn't asking the district to require uniforms.
"This is not something that I'm looking for the Board of Education to mandate," Bryant said. "This is something the community has to put in place."
To achieve that, Bryant intends to take the issue up with civic organizations and PTOs.
"I have to go to each individual school, which I'm willing to do," he said.
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