Schools

Central Regional Board Of Ed Tables Vote On Uniforms, But With Caveat

Vote on proposal was 6 to 3

After more than two hours of heated discussion, the Central Regional Board of Education decided to table a controversial vote on school uniforms tonight.

The board voted 6 to 3 to give school administrators more time to beef up the current dress code and warn parents and students the code must be strictly adhered to.

If there are more than 50 individual violations between September and December of 2013, the uniform policy will go into effect in September 2014.

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Board members Robert J. Everett Jr., Nick Mackres and Tracy Mianulli voted against the motion. All three said they supported uniforms and thought the policy vote should have been taken tonight. Everett and Mackres hold the Berkeley seats on the board, Mianulli represents Seaside Park.

Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides said he still wants uniforms at Central Regional, but was willing to go along with the board's decision, at least for now.

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He vowed to spend the first two hours of each school day walking through both the high school and middle school to make certain students were adhering to the dress code.

"The Greek is going to be in the halls from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.," he said.

School administrators spend too much of their time dealing with students who do not abide by the current codes, Parlapanides and several board members said.

About 35 people showed up for the meeting. Board members at first wanted to go into closed session to discuss the matter. But when a resident repeatedly questioned why they needed to go into closed session, the board decided to hold the discussion in the open.

Board Attorney William T. Hiering Jr. said closed session would be appropriate if the board was considering awarding a contract for uniforms. But discussion could take place in open session, he said.

The switch to uniforms would take pressure off both students and parents and would enhance school security at the 98-acre campus off Forest Hills Parkway, Parlapanides has said.

"We are a 98-acre ranch...with lots of entrances," he told the Township Council during a presentation earlier this year. "If everyone is in uniform, we know who everybody is."

Switching to uniforms would put also put all students on an even basis and lessen the economic burden for parents, he has said.

Come back to Berkeley Patch soon for an expanded version of this story.


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