A father in Arizona devised an unconventional method to protest a proposed dress code change at his children’s school, wearing the very attire that school board members considered permitting under new policies.
Ira Latham removed his shirt and pants during a September meeting at the Higley Unified School District in Gilbert, a town southeast of Phoenix, revealing a tiny black crop top and denim short shorts he says he bought at a local thrift shop.
In May, some governing board members at the Higley Unified School District contemplated expanding the dress code, as it hadn’t been updated in approximately 22 years, Phoenix station KPNX reported.
The district considered allowing students to show their midriffs and wear tank tops and spaghetti straps, among other alterations. Some members stated long-standing policies banning those clothing choices had disproportionately affected girls.
“We’re saying that they need to cover up because of the way it might make someone else feel and that is wrong,” Tiffany Shultz, the governing board president, said during deliberations.
Latham has four kids who attend Higley schools. He argued that clothing like the kind he revealed at the board meeting was more appropriate for a public pool than a classroom.
“My concerns were about preparing students for entering the workforce, setting the right expectations, having respect for other students in the classroom,” he told the outlet.
He said the new policy would place added burdens on teachers and parents.
“It’s gonna get harder for the teachers to deal with this new policy. It’s gonna be distracting in the classroom and it’s gonna have some parents that want to pull their kids out of the district,” Latham said.
Despite Latham’s unique protest, the district still passed the more relaxed dress code with a 3-2 vote.
