Palmerton Area School Board will consider approval to the first reading of its revised dress code policy later this month.

That was the message conveyed to the audience who attended a workshop meeting of the board of school directors on Tuesday.Board President Barry Scherer announced that board solicitor David Shulman's review of the draft will be submitted for first reading approval when the school board meets at 7 p.m. Oct. 19.At that time, Scherer said board members, as well as the public, will have an opportunity to comment on the first reading of the policy.But, Director Susan Debski said she doesn't agree with the draft because "it's too subjective.""I don't think it's an effective policy," Debski said. "I think we're going to have many, many problems."Resident Lori Burke said she heard a high school teacher got an email and informed students that leggings are not permitted.Superintendent Carol Boyce confirmed that there was an email with regard to leggings, and went on to give an explanation as to what type of leggings are permitted.Burke then said she's been told "there have been teachers looking for reasons to send students to the office."Her daughter, Kaitlin Burke, then asked why students weren't allowed to wear T-shirts in honor of deceased student Nick Bickowski.High school Assistant Principal/Athletic Director William Congdon said he spoke with the students to address the situation.Congdon said that while the district supports the idea of the foundation that was started on behalf of Bickowski, the T-shirts sent a "mixed message" because the T-shirts could be taken to be "offensive.""I told the student there would be no disciplinary action," Congdon said. "It's a no-win situation."Congdon said he wasn't even aware of the T-shirts until after the fact."I never saw the T-shirts until they [the students] walked through the front door," Congdon said. "We are doing everything in a confrontational mode, and I don't understand it."Junior high school Principal Thaddeus Kosciolek said it wasn't Congdon who made the decision, but rather he and Egan, because "if it offends one person, that's one too many."However, Scherer said he didn't "see anything in our policy that's in effect today that says the kids can't wear those T-shirts."Resident Diana Reinhart said she doesn't believe changing the dress code will change confrontations."There might be a deeper meaning where those confrontations are coming from," Reinhart said. "I think changing the dress code isn't going to solve those problems."Resident Bill Strauch then asked whether the building principals have kept track of the number of infractions that have occurred since the start of this school year.Kosciolek said that as of the 27th day of school, there have been 26 incidents that have involved 13 students who have been sent to the office. Most of the incidents pertained to females who wore low tops, shorts that were too short, and nose piercings, he said.Asked by Scherer whether he felt the incidents that were reported were justified, Kosciolek said he did, and added that even more could have been reported based on observation.High school Principal Kathy Egan said there were 81 students in her building, 68 of which were females, and the other 13 males, who had to be sent to the office. Of those, she said 15 students were seen twice, and four other students three or more times."Some of them become very indignant, very confrontational," Egan said. "The main problem is the females."Egan agreed with Kosciolek that even more students could have been reported."It takes a lot of time until you bring them in," she said. "It just is very, very time-consuming and very confrontational; very confrontational."But, resident Patti Green said the numbers should be expected to be high "because these kids were getting away with it for all these years."Debski said she has other concerns."There's some huge allegations that can really ruin people's careers," Debski said. "It just upsets me when you see emails going around."Scherer said he believes there is "stronger enforcement now than ever.""Hopefully, this revised policy will put more teeth in it," Scherer said. "[As of now], it's the interpretation of the administrators and teachers."Boyce previously said anyone with concerns about the current policy is to follow board policy #906, which is a complaint procedure that may be filed by community members who have issues with professional employees or administrators in the district.In August, it was determined that students were to follow the current dress code as listed in the student handbook. Once a new policy is approved, advance notice will be given to implement the changes.In July, the school board's ad hoc policy committee made numerous revisions to the policy, which was then sent to Shulman.That action came after the group determined which of four policies created in August by four teams it favored. However, the committee said at that time any revisions to the district's dress and groom policy likely wouldn't go into effect until January of 2011.At a special meeting in June, the board agreed to form the committee that consisted of district administrators, teachers and several parents from each of the five buildings in the district to review the policy after it was discussed at a board committee meeting earlier that month, when it was decided that a special meeting was needed to revisit the matter.In April, the board held a special meeting in response to a request by Kosciolek, who said he believed the matter needed to be revisited because instances where the dress code was violated continued 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.