The eight-member board tied twice on whether to support the middle
school principal's ban on strapless dresses for girls attending the June
event. It eventually approved a compromise motion that would, in the
words of the school board, permit dresses with "at least a single or
clear or spaghetti strap to reduce the risk of a wardrobe malfunction."
Readington
Middle School Principal Sharon Moffat's decision last month to ban
strapless dresses at the annual dance provoked anger from some parents
and pupils, who said part of her reasoning -- that strapless dresses
might distract boys -- smacked of sexism. The ban sends the message
"that no matter how women are dressed, it's their fault when something
happens to them, and that is appalling," said one parent, Harry
Nijenhuis, at a school board meeting last month attended by dozens of
parents and TV news crews.
Other parents and some pupils said many
girls already had bought strapless dresses for the dance, or had
planned on wearing strapless dresses handed down by older sisters who
had attended the event in years past, before the dress code was altered.
Not
all parents objected to the strapless-gown ban. Some said the principal
was simply establishing a dress code that would protect girls from
wardrobe malfunctions and that pupils and their parents needed to
respect authority.
But after the heated testimony at the April
meeting, school board officials scheduled Wednesday's special session to
reconsider their support of Moffat's rule.
Days after the
original ruling was imposed, the Readington school board had to cancel a
dance set for late April after an email threat was sent to Moffat, who
became Readington Middle School's principal less than a year ago. School
board officials did not give details of the threat, and police did not
believe it was credible, but the dance was canceled as a precaution.
Local
media reported that girls who already have purchased dresses that don't
meet the strap requirement will have to alter their outfits or buy new
ones.
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