Photo illustration by Brian CorleyCarson High School cheerleaders from left Chelsea Bleuss, 17, Danielle Rolfe, 16, and Hilary Heller, 15, sit in front of Carson High. The girls are wearing tops that will be actively prohibited by a dress code this school year.
Carson High School Principal Glen Adair does not want to see any belly buttons this year and even plans to send home students who show them.
"They're in school to improve their own futures. True, it is a social place, it is a friendly place - but that doesn't mean it's a place for beach wear," he said. "It isn't a place where anything you want to wear at any time will be tolerated."
The school handbook was rewritten over the summer to include an apparel contract by which students will agree to dress appropriately. The first offense will result in a warning and further offenses may result in suspension.
"That's a tough way to go, but we're tired of chasing people around and asking them to dress modestly," Adair said.
That means no tank tops, no halter tops, no low-cut shirts or low-rise jeans, no short shorts or skirts and no flip-flops - all which have been a part of the dress code in the past but have been disregarded by students.
"If we didn't say anything, I swear to goodness they'd show up in bathing suits," Adair said.
Fifteen-year-old Hilary Heller does not agree with the dress code.
"I think it's a little too strict," she said. "If people don't want to learn, they still won't want to whether they're in spaghetti straps or not."
The rules and regulations of the school will be explained to new students at an orientation in the gym Friday at 11 a.m. About 700 new students, including incoming freshmen, are expected this year as part of the student body of nearly 2,700 students.
Returning students can pick up their schedules beginning at 7 a.m. on the first day of school Aug. 28 followed by a pep assembly at 8 a.m.
Adair said he wants students to return to the basics of showing up, being on time and coming prepared to do the best job possible.
"I submit to you, these are the rules that govern the operation of the working world," he said. And in order to do that, he says, students must come dressed appropriately.
However, the time to decide what to wear isn't at school but at home. Adair is asking that parents make sure their children come to school dressed appropriately.
"We want to be on the same team and same side," he said. "When their sons and daughters say everybody is dressing like this at school, it's not true."
Although he has been an ardent opponent of school uniforms in the past, Adair said he may consider the option down the road if students continue to break the dress code.
Students have also been increasingly tardy and school officials will be placing a greater emphasis on arriving promptly for classes.
"Parents make excuses for them but the truth of the matter is if they're not here, they're hurting themselves," Adair said.
He said students need their parents as teenagers as much as they did as small children.
"Now is not the time to get out of your kids' life even though this is the time they will naturally push you away," he said. "Life is short and the end is sudden. What better time to say, 'Hey, we're in this together.'"