Students lobby to end bad hair days

Heather Henricksen and members of the leadership class at La Conner High School recently made a presentation to the La Conner School Board seeking permission to wear hats on campus.

Henricksen, her twin sister Nicole and their friends, researched the rules in 10 other high schools, polled teachers and proposed that the 30-year ban on hats at school be relaxed.

Aside from being fashion statements, in cold weather, hats and hoods are often necessary. Pulling them off, creates “hat hair. It’s nasty,” Heather told the school board.

Also, the students contend that allowing hats would improve the atmosphere at school by reducing negative interactions between students and staff with “no more nagging to take off hats.”

The students’ research demon-strated that in most other high schools, including Anacortes, Coupeville and Orcas, hats are allowed as long as they’re not offensive or gang associated and that students respect “teacher discretion” as the final say on whether or not they can be worn inside classrooms.

At La Conner, present rules allow students to wear hats only on Fridays and only in the halls. The rest of the time, they’ll be confiscated and not returned until the last day of the school year. Further, parents will be called in for a meeting when a student loses his or her hat more than three times during a quarter.

The students’ proposed rule change would allow hats to be worn provided they are worn with respect, the students’ eyes are visible and the teachers have the final word on whether they can be worn in their classrooms.

A poll of staff members by the students found 76 percent in favor of allowing hats at the high school and 57 percent at the middle school.

School board member Kate Szurek asked how the poll was conducted. The students said they sent an email to every teacher, and if there was no response, they went to talk to them in person. In all, 13 percent of the high school staff couldn’t be reached for a response, and 15 percent of the middle school staff never responded.

Along with their statistics, the students included some quotes from teachers, including math teacher Jan Auman, who they quoted saying, “If we want school to be relevant to kids, I don’t think hats are a battle we should have to fight.”

Secondary schools principal Cheryl Sullivan was quoted saying that having to constantly remind students to remove their hats “opens up the door to have negative interactions where there doesn’t need to be.”

Board president Rick Thompson told the students he was of the “old school” and considered hat wearing “a privilege and not a right.” He said he’d like to know how students would react to having “strings,” such as good behavior attached to hat wearing.

Thompson and the rest of the school board members complimented the students on their presentation and promised to consider their request.