JAMESTOWN, Tenn. — Parents are pushing back after one Fentress County school announced a graduation dress code. With graduation day about two weeks out, seniors at Alvin C. York Agriculture Institute say it’s too short notice. But the school says students won’t walk across the stage unless they follow the dress code.
Some students said that the dress code is strict, and some said they have also already bought outfits for graduation.
“They do that to them less than 15 days before they get out. I mean, if they had been a little less specific about it and said, 'Hey, you can’t wear jeans with holes in them, you need nice Sunday dress-type clothes and if you don’t wear something appropriate we aren’t going to let you go,' well that would make sense,” said Bobbi Lynn Dills, a parent of one of the students.
According to a release from the school on Tuesday, girls are required to wear dark-colored sundresses with black shoes. Boys need to wear blue or black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. The release also said 3D cap decorations are not allowed.
Dills said her son, Austin, was hoping to bring a memento across the stage — a locket with a picture of his departed grandmother.
“A locket with his nana’s picture that hangs off his tassel. Now he’s not going to be able to use that,” Dills said. “I told Austin, I said, 'You’re going to wear your locket if I got to tape it to the top of your hat. They can kiss my grits.'”
For one high school senior, this announcement was gut-wrenching. Smith’s daughter, Cordelia, picked out her graduation outfit with her dad. He suddenly died in February.
“It’s sentimental, you know, that she gets to wear the outfit that her and her dad picked out specifically for graduation,” said Dusty Smith, a parent. “That’s frustrating for a parent to hear, let alone their child to hear. They’ve worked so hard to get to this point.”
Graduation is just about two weeks away and parents say this notice should have come sooner. Cordelia’s outfit violates the dress code because it includes pants.
“I’ll be honest with you, my daughter, she’s going to walk across with that outfit and if they try to say anything I guess I am going to call you back and say, 'Be here,'” she said.
Overall, parents and students said they’re not going to let it ruin their graduation. Parents on the other side of the argument said they’re happy to abide by the new dress code noting that some students last year showed up to graduation in pajamas.
WBIR reached out to the school, but they said they are not allowed to speak to the media.