The student appearance section of District 219’s Board Policies was updated on August 8, 2018; however, only one article of clothing was removed from the prohibited list: sleeveless undershirts. The rest of the change encompassed the wording around the consequences that will be given to a student who shows up to school in inappropriate attire.

There has been a sizable amount of confusion regarding what, if anything, changed about the dress code. English teacher and Fem club sponsor Michele Hettinger was aware of the primary purpose behind the update.

“The Niles North student government made a proposal and sent it to the board of education,” Hettinger said. “The main problem that was addressed was the use of sexist language. The clothes you cannot wear are mostly about women’s clothes. North tried to get the West student government on board but they weren’t so interested, so they called our Fem club. The Fem club went and just supported North’s proposal.”

At West, the change hasn’t affected all students. Junior Ali Raufi had no idea that there was an adjustment to the dress code.

“I really had no clue that there even was a change. I’ve heard people in a few of my classes discussing the matter. I think it’s good that students are standing up and taking a voice for [the] things they want. Even though I don’t feel affected by this, it must mean a lot to others who fought for it,” said Raufi.

Although not everyone has noticed much of a difference throughout the school, junior Nikki Koziol, who is a member of Fem Club, has noticed significant changes at West with the newer version of the dress code.

“I noticed during my first year at West that a lot of girls would get dress coded because their shoulder was showing a little bit of skin and they would have to wear an over sized Niles West t-shirt to cover up,” Koziol said. “I haven’t seen that recently at all which is good meaning our school doesn’t take it that seriously. School is just meant for learning, clothes shouldn’t be such a major priority.”

This updated dress code might not be significant to many students, but it is important to others. Pupils seeing a positive change so far this school year shows that small adjustments to language can matter.