PERRYVILLE SURVEY SAYS NOT TO SCHOOL UNIFORMS

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville students will not be wearing school uniforms in the fall after a survey showed a lack of support for the change.

Fifty percent of the 1,819 survey responses submitted to the Perry County School District favored uniforms, 48 percent opposed them and 2 percent were undecided.

According to school district research of St. Louis-area schools that use uniforms, at least 80 percent support is necessary for a uniform requirement to succeed.

"They all said unless you have 80 percent of students participating, then you're going to have more problems than you did before," said Rick Francis, the district's assistant superintendent.

The cost of providing uniforms to needy students also was an issue the 2,400-student district took into consideration.

Of the surveys submitted, 1,412 were returned from the school newspaper and 407 were conducted by telephone. Students, parents, community members, faculty and staff were surveyed.

The safety survey was undertaken in May in the wake of the recent killings at high schools across the country.

School uniforms in those that have uniforms have been credited with making schools safer, reducing disciplinary referrals, increasing student achievement and increasing school pride, according to the district.

Francis said the survey has provided useful recommendations about improving school safety. They include:

-- A hotline for students to report safety concerns anonymously.

-- Reviewing the current dress code.

-- Reducing the number of open doors to school buildings.

-- Unannounced locker inspections.

-- Requiring "see-through' backpacks.

-- Visitor and staff IDs.

-- Student IDs.

-- More parental responsibility.

-- Security cameras.

-- More safety and attendance officers.

-- Stricter discipline.

The district now plans to study the comments made in the surveys and make recommendations to the board of education.

"We certainly want our schools to be a safe place" and for students to feel safe, Francis said.