A meeting of Palmerton Area School District's Policy Committee scheduled for this evening has been canceled.

The committee was expected to look over a revised dress and groom policy sent to the school board solicitor for review.But, a notice posted on the district's web site,

www.palmerton.org, indicated the meeting has been canceled.The matter may be discussed at a board workshop scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday.Earlier this month, the committee made numerous revisions to the policy, which was then sent to board solicitor David Shulman.That action came after the group determined which of four policies created earlier this month by four teams it favored.However, the committee said any revisions to the district's dress and groom policy likely won't go into effect until January of 2011.The committee consisted of district administrators, teachers and several parents from each of the five buildings in the district.At a special meeting last month, the board agreed to form the committee to review the district's dress and groom policy.Some of the proposed changes to the dress code policy at that time would not allow flip flops, no noticeable underwear, no bare midriffs, no cleavage, no sweat pants, warmups or windbreakers, heels only up to 2-inches, skirts are to be knee-length, shorts are to be no more than 2-inches, and no holes in clothing, among others.The board also at that time held brief conversation on the matter of hair color, but no proposed changes appeared to have been made with regard to that issue.The dress and grooming policy was discussed at a board committee meeting last month, when it was decided that a special meeting was needed to revisit the matter.Prior to that, the board in April held a special meeting in response to a request by junior high school Principal Thaddeus Kosciolek, who said he believed the matter needed to be revisited because instances where the dress code is violated continue to escalate.Kosciolek also said at that time he hoped the district would consider the adoption of a dress code similar to one adopted by the Tamaqua Area School District. He said Panther Valley and Pleasant Valley school districts have also adopted new dress codes.Larry Wittig, president of Tamaqua Area School Board, attended that special meeting to discuss the successful dress code that was implemented in the Tamaqua Area School District five years ago.Jim Thorpe Area School District last month adopted a new dress code for its students that will go into effect at the start of next school year.Kosciolek said that in instances where students are in violation of the dress code, parents are called and asked to bring in something else to wear. If not, the students are placed in in-school suspension, he said.High school Principal Kathy Egan previously said the school has extra Palmerton Blue Bomber T-shirts, which students have the option to wear. Egan added at that time that a current problem pertains to the length of shorts worn by girls in the high school, where she said about 50 percent are not in compliance.