Jim Thorpe Area School District will do away with a school uniform policy that has been in effect for a decade.

On Wednesday, school board members agreed to adopt recommendations from administrators to do away with the requirement that students wear a uniform which had few options outside of school colors and khakis.

“We want to make sure dress is appropriate and safe, and not a distraction to the educational environment,” said Shawn Albert, principal of the L.B. Morris Campus. “To answer the question most parents have, they can prepare as they did this year as far as dress.”

For the 2020-21 school year, the district relaxed the school dress code. The administrators recommended that the district make those changes permanent.

Albert said the principals made their decision after a recent meeting. Jim Thorpe Area High School Principal Thomas Lesisko said he supports the idea so that there is consistency between the rules for clothing at all grade levels.

The old dress code, which was in effect for a decade, required students to wear tucked in, solid colored polo shirts, dress shirts, blouses, sweaters, turtlenecks, with suit coats or fleeces allowed.

Pants had to be khaki, navy blue or black.

Shoes were also restricted to being predominantly white, gray, blue, red, black or brown.

The decision to relax the dress code last year was made to eliminate the burden on parents who were dealing with additional challenges due to COVID-19.

Under the 2020-21 modified dress code, restrictions on the color and type of clothing were lifted. The district allowed jeans, but without holes or rips. Leggings, pajamas, hoodies and clothing with inappropriate messages were still banned.

Under the modified dress code, pants and shirts must still be appropriate fitting, with no shorts or skirts allowed above the kneecaps, and no shirts exposing the shoulders or upper torso.

In upper grades, repeat dress code violations can result in detention or in-school suspension.

According to the district’s dress code policy, the state gives schools the authority to regulate clothes that may be disruptive to school, a health hazard, damaging school reputation, or indecent or distracting.