Students in the Columbus Municipal School District may have the option to add a little color to their school uniforms.
In an “overwhelming response” to a survey offered during student registration, parents said they wanted their children to be allowed to wear purple and gold polo shirts, as well as their school spirit shirts, in addition to their white and blue polo shirts, according to Deputy Superintendent Craig Shannon. The CMSD board is expected to approved the changes at its Aug. 19 meeting. Under the proposal, students will still be required to wear khaki pants, shorts or skirts.
“We received an overwhelming response from parents that they support the purple and gold school uniforms,” Shannon said, adding that the proposed changes were approved by 97 percent of the parents who responded.
More than 2,100 parents responded to the survey, and with more than 4,500 students in the district, Shannon said.
“It is one of the largest responses rates on any of our surveys,” he said. “With the small window of time we had for this survey, we had a very pleasant response.”
The option to add purple and gold was first presented in a motion by CMSD board member Aubra Turner at the board’s July 16 meeting. Turner, who has two children who are students in the district, said she hoped adding the school colors to the uniform would boost morale.
“I felt this was the perfect opportunity to get the students and parents involved and motivated about the upcoming school year,” Turner said.
The matter will be presented before the board for approval during their August 19 board meeting, after school begins. August 7. The change will not be in effect until board approval. If the motion passes, Shannon said the handbook will be amended to reflect the change.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.