Antigo School Board considers requiring more formal staff attire

ANTIGO — At a meeting Monday night, the Antigo School Board’s Human Resources and Finance Committee approved updated employee handbook contracts which include more detailed requirements related to professional appearance.

The previous handbook simply stipulated that teachers should dress “professionally and appropriate for their positions.” The “Professional Appearance” section in the new handbook includes more specific requirements, including the following paragraph:

“Teachers are expected to dress professionally while adhering to common practices of good grooming, modesty, cleanliness, and neatness. Unless there are special circumstances (Phy. Ed., some Tech. Ed., art, etc.) or a special event, it is understood that jeans and ‘activewear’ (particularly yoga pants, leggings, jeggings, or other skin tight clothing that reveal excessive body composition) worn alone is not considered professional attire.”

The change will become effective once classes begin this fall if approved by the entire school board when it convenes next Monday.

District Administrator Glenda Oginski said the proposed revision is due in large part to feedback community members provided at focus group meetings held during the past year throughout the city.

“It was brought up various times about the concern around staff dress,” Oginski said. “Now, be mindful, that does not mean all staff. That means some staff. And have I seen things that I as a building principal would question or address one on one? Yes, I would have. But I feel like we are in a profession, and it is expected that we all dress professionally.”

Michael Blood, a history teacher at the high school, expressed partial disagreement with one aspect of the change during the public comment portion of the meeting.

“The only one that makes me nervous for the other teachers, for people here, is the blue jeans part,” Blood said. “If there’s a problem with them — if they’re stained, if they’re torn, etc. — I totally understand. In today’s world, I think that in general, you will see lots of business people at…meetings with blue jeans, shirt, and a blazer of some kind or a dress jacket, so I don’t know that the blue jeans — as long they’re appropriate, clean, and don’t have tears and holes in them — is a big issue. So my ask is if we can scale it back.”

Oginski noted that the new requirement would not be without exceptions, such as related to dress up days like Packer Day or Red Robin Day during special school spirit weeks.

“Part of that is also helping build the culture and climate within your building,” she said.

“So things like that wouldn’t necessarily change. And in the handbook, you’ll also note, there are particular classifications or job titles in which a person would not be held to the same level just because of what their job required of them. So like physical education, some of our tech ed jobs, those categories would have a different expectation around professional dress.”

Unlike in the past, teachers and support staff members will also now have separate handbooks, one of many updates Oginski said were made to make them “more user-friendly.”

Monday’s school board meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. in the media tech room of Antigo High School.