Numerous WPXI viewers contacted the news station to complain about numerous student suspensions issued at Penn Hills High School last week over a change in the dress code for 2016-17 that prohibits students from wearing "hoodies."
District spokeswoman Teresita Kolenchak confirmed that a total of 46 Penn Hills students were suspended on Monday and Thursday last week for "various dress code violations," but denied that the bulk of them were related to the hoodie ban, KDKA reports. "We are not sure where the exaggerated reports of 'hoodie incidents' for today are coming from," Kolenchak said. "We have actually been very pleased with the level of cooperation from both parents and students on the issue."
The school's new dress code states that students must remove hoodies while at school and store them in their locker or backpacks because they could cause a "safety concern" and "disrupt the educational process," according to WPXI. While school officials claim the "hoodie incidents" are exaggerated, students commenting online claim they're downplaying the impact of the no-hoodie policy.
"I'm one of the people who got suspended over a hoodie and it wasn't 46," Christopher Dixon posted to Facebook. "Try over 100." "They are lying 80-90 kids got suspended!" Jadah Dane wrote. "It was empty as (f***) today." "F***ing hate Penn Hills," Mara Donald wrote. "I got suspended for having a jacket with a hood on it."
Students also launched a Change.org petition calling on officials to reconsider the hoodie ban that has so far garnered about 690 signatures toward a goal of 1,000.
"The Penn Hills student body is outraged that our board made the decision to prohibit hoodies district wide. Although it may seem like a small item, hoodies are an essential part of our wardrobe, especially during the winter months when our classrooms mimic Antarctica's climate," the petition reads.
"A majority of the clubs and sports teams throughout the district use hoodies to show their Penn Hills Pride. What should we do now that this vital part of our school spirit is taken away?
"We, the student body, understand the concerns with the hoodies. However, we believe that the problem doesn't rest with the hoodies. The problem is in the enforcement of the dress code that was already established. We, the student body, challenge the board to look at and address the real problem."
Penn Hills isn't the only school that's suspending students for breaking rules against hoodies.
Officials at North High School in Akron issued two-day suspensions to 29 students last Wednesday for wearing sweatshirts with hoods as part of "an organized effort to defy the adopted dress code guidelines," Akron Public Schools official Julia Mann told the Beacon Journal.
"A great number of students decided on their own to put the hoodies in their lockers and there were some students who refused to do so," she said.
A hoodie is not "essential". Water is essential. There are tons of alternatives for keeping warm, school spirit (which I doubt was really there and is only being used as a form of reverse psychology). Not to mention they are allowed to wear them to school in the cold outside, just not inside the school where it is heated anyway.
Also which is it kids 80-90 over a hundred? Kids can't get the story right? Gee I wonder why?