After serious consideration, the Abilene Independent School District (AISD) School Board voted to do away with the uniform dress code AISD students have been required to wear in recent years. Dr. David Young said that 76.2% of families, educators, and AISD board members voted against continuing with a uniform dress code. After Monday evening's school board meeting, parents, board members, and administrators shared the news of their decision.

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Now I'm not saying I'm old, but when I was in school, uniforms were never a consideration. It wasn't until I had my own family that I discovered there were dress code requirements for my children attending public schools. Fortunately, for the Fernandez Tribe, we never had anyone having to wear a uniform.

I recall growing up in the seventies when we all tried to wear the biggest bell-bottom pants and the widest Elvis Presley-type collars on our shirts and dress coats. But more important was the hairstyle of the seventies. And who can forget the eighties mall bangs?

It would seem the main reason why the school district went to a uniform dress code about ten years ago was to avoid distraction in the classroom and on campus. When I was in school, I recall a lot of kids would spend time staring at the kids with the bigger bell-bottom pants and the taller mall bangs. I can see how some educators would say, "That is distracting." However, I firmly believe uniforms stop students from being more creative and bohemian. I wholeheartedly believe that when you tell youth what they can or cannot do, individualism goes away.

In my personal opinion, I believe we're going to see the creative side of these students come to life. AISD Superintendent Dr. David Young said, "I believe that things got lost in translation." During the school board meeting, he added, "I think the hope is that for middle school, this would have a positive impact. But it's just been diluted over time which is why this conversation is coming up."

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