Cape school board OKs new policies on dress code, absences

The Cape Girardeau School Board approved proposed changes to the dress code during its meeting Thursday night.

New provisions allow crew-neck T-shirts in any solid color to be worn in addition to collared shirts and turtlenecks already permitted. A separate provision added gray slacks to the range of solid-color bottoms that may be worn in the classroom.

The board altered an existing clause banning excessively large, baggy or skintight tops to also prohibit sheer material.

The board sees the changes as a productive next step in maintaining an environment conducive to education. The dress code can be found on the Cape Girardeau School District webpage.

During the meeting, board members also discussed the updated attendance procedure to be implemented during the coming school year.

"We're going to focus on attendance as a whole and identify effective interventions to address student absences," Superintendent Dr. James Welker said.

As part of the new procedure, school officials will no longer recognize a distinction between excused and unexcused absences.

"An absence is an absence," Welker said.

All absences will be verified as soon as possible by contacting parents or guardians, who will be encouraged to provide any pertinent documentation such as a doctor's note when the student returns to school.

Students who miss 10 percent of the current days of attendance will be considered chronically absent and will be subject to a multitiered intervention plan to assist them, to be prescribed by the school's attendance review committee.

"If the prescribed interventions are not successful, parents may be referred to the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney," Welker said, but he made clear such action would be a last resort.

"We will continue to work with parents," he said. "We want to encourage a culture of good attendance in our schools."

"If our kids are not in school daily, we cannot educate them fully," according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau School District.

tgraef@semissourian.com