SCHOOL DRESS CODE TO BAN GANG ATTIRE

School administrators are imposing a more restrictive dress code at Cape Girardeau Central High School in an effort to discourage gang and gang-like attire.

Dr. Neyland Clark, school district superintendent, said Tuesday that the dress code will take effect once the students are notified. That could occur as early as Thursday.

Clark said a similar dress code is already being followed for the most part at the junior high school and at Louis J. Schultz Middle School.

"Quite honestly, it deals with gang-like apparel," he said, explaining that the district is outlawing the wearing of oversized clothing that would enable students to conceal contraband and the wearing of such things as shorts and pants that are worn loosely below the waist.

Students who violate the code face disciplinary action.

"Clothing should in no way distract from regular class work or school activities," the written code states.

"The Central High School administration feels that the presence of gangs and gang activities can cause a substantial disruption to good order and discipline in the school and may pose a threat of physical harm to staff and students."

Clark said school officials work closely with the Cape Girardeau police to identify clothing, jewelry, emblems and badges that are evidence of gang membership.

Police officers with drug dogs make periodic, unannounced visits to the campus.

The school district already has an overall dress code, but the high-school code is more restrictive, he said.

The dress code was discussed at Monday night's Board of Education meeting.

While no board approval was needed, school board members expressed support for the move.

"I think it is excellent," board member Kathy Swan said. "It is just a common-sense dress code."

Both Clark and Police Chief Howard Boyd Jr. want to ensure that gangs don't get a foothold in the public schools as they have in some school districts across the nation.

"We are beginning to see some characteristics of gang-like activity in the community, and it is spilling over in the school," Clark said.

At Central High School, some students have been showing up in gang-like attire and gang-like graffiti has been discovered in student notebooks.

"We have some kids boasting that they are affiliated with one gang or another," the superintendent said. "Now, instead of wannabees, they are gonnabees."

Boyd said the police support any effort that would make it more difficult for gangs to thrive on school campuses.

"We are opposed to any clothing that could be used to conceal weapons in a school environment," the police chief said.

The growing number of incidents of students taking firearms to school is a concern nationwide, he said.

There have been a couple such incidents in the Cape Girardeau public schools within the past year.

"One gun on campus is one gun too many," Boyd said.