Some boots are made for walking, and some are made for protection against the elements.

The school's dress code should further define permitted footwear to include a provision for boots, a parent said during the Tamaqua Area School Board meeting Tuesday.Paul Ford of Tamaqua, whose daughter is a fourth-grader, was not permitted to wear boots in school.According to the school's dress code, snow boots must be removed in school and replaced with shoes.Appropriate footwear must be worn at all times, according to the code adopted in July 2005. Shoes will be solid brown, black, tan, navy blue, or burgundy with matching laces. Shoes must be close-toed. Shoes with excessive heels, boots, and sandals are prohibited.All footwear must have a back, which secures the shoe to the foot. Sneakers are permitted and must be white, black, brown, tan, navy blue or gray with minimal variation. Laces must match the body of the sneaker. No pictures, patterns, or words are permitted. Shoes and sneakers may not light up or have wheels. Socks must be navy blue, black, brown, tan, or white.Ford brought a pair of black boots to the meeting, and he'd cut one of the boots down to ankle height. He said that he didn't think it was right for the dress code to put all boots into the same category, and that some boots were stylish and could be worn with the school uniforms."That's a fair request," said Board President Larry Wittig. "That's a reasonable request, and we'll take a look at it."Also during the meeting, the board made plans to add two new courses to the curriculum.High school courses which will be added in the 2014-15 school year will be advanced placement statistics and photojournalism. Each will be a one-credit course.