EPSB serves up option of wearing tennis shoes

Tennis shoes was the biggest topic of discussion at the Evangeline Parish School Board’s meeting Wednesday night. Several board members said teachers were “hammering” them about being able to wear tennis shoes (sneakers) at work, questioning the dress code policy which states teachers must dress in a professional manner. Since dealing with the pandemic, however, an allowance was made to wear tennis shoes with scrubs out of concerns of safety. Additionally, teachers may wear sneakers if they have a medical excuse, and on designated spirit days when employees are allowed to wear school/parish T-shirts and jeans.
The school board’s policy lists crocs and flip-flops as “not permitted” in their list of examples, but there is no mention of tennis shoes/sneakers. The policy also states: “To maintain a proper image for teachers, it is the responsibility of principals to see that teachers are properly dressed. Principals or building administrators may make exceptions to the mode of dress in specific shop-type situations where deemed appropriate. Any condition of grooming or dress judged inappropriate by the principal or building administrators shall not be allowed.”
Superintendent Darwan Lazard said the policy had not changed. “The policy says the principal is the final determiner of what is acceptable. I did remind the principals that we’re not supposed to be wearing sneakers every day,” he said.
Board member Nick Chaumont said, “I haven’t been around for a while, but the thing I got is, the teachers are killing themselves doing everything we’re asking them to do. Why not let them wear tennis shoes if it’s comfortable?” Board member Sheila Joseph said professional shoes are uncomfortable, and teachers have so much stress, dealing with COVID in additional to their regular duties and having to work on weekends, often times not having much of a social life. “I think maybe we need to give them a break, just until the rest of the year,” she said.
Chaumont said to Lazard, “I think they’ve done everything you’ve asked them to do for us.” Lazard responded, “We’re very pleased with the workforce we have here in Evangeline Parish.” Board member Nancy Hamlin reminded everyone the teachers can still wear scrubs and tennis shoes as long as the state is still in Phase II. Board member Lonnie Sonnier said, “Even if a lady dresses in good dress clothes, there are a lot of dress tennis shoes. I think those teachers deserve a break, having something their feet are comfortable with. They’re having to do a lot more walking. I’d be in favor of letting them wear nice tennis shoes.”
Hamlin said, “Nowhere does it say they have to wear heels. They can wear flat shoes, and there are plenty of comfortable flat shoes.” Joseph replied, “But some people have problems with their feet. Some people have corns or blisters, etc.”
School Board President Wayne Dardeau said teachers have hounded the school board members for other things before. “The next time they’re going to hound you for something else. As long as you continue to make exceptions to the rules, they’re going to never stop hounding you,” he said. He further added, “I started teaching a day or two ago, but there was no restrictions. You were just expected to dress as a professional. You are a professional. They claim to be professional, but you’ve got to follow the rules to be professional, not when something comes up, hound the school board members, ring the members’ phones until they give in. Then the next time it’s going to be something else they give in.”
Dardeau added, “We stood behind the dress code policy all the way since school started. We gave in to letting them wear scrubs. If we continue to make exceptions, it’s going to be an exception to this and an exception to that. We’re the authority to make a policy and stick with it.”
Joseph responded, “I understand what you’re saying, but also we need teachers. Teachers are beginning to leave and not want to teach anymore because of all the stress they’re going through. I know we can’t just lean and give in to them all the time, but it’s tennis shoes we’re talking about. That has nothing to do with an education to me. As long as you’re presentable to go to school and teach, what does tennis shoes have to do with education? This is a different generation. We’re going to have to understand about the generation changes.”
Board member Mike Fontenot said the issue came about because one of the supervisors at the central office said the school board members said teachers cannot wear tennis shoes. Lazard said, “I can tell you, I’m the one who told them that the dress code has not changed. There are some exceptions. If y’all want to do something different, all you have to do is tell me what y’all want to do. My job is to enforce what y’all do.”
Chaumont said Lazard was not to blame. Lazard said he met with principals and told them about the policy. Chaumont responded, saying 14 or 15 teachers called him, blaming Lazard. “I said that’s bull crap,” said Chaumont. “It’s not him. I pulled that policy up on the website and it just said something about crocs and flip-flops or whatever. That’s all I saw. So my question is, why did all of a sudden somebody say you can’t wear tennis shoes? Was that policy not enforced?” Lazard said the policy had not been enforced like it should.
The board ultimately voted to allow all school employees to wear tennis shoes until the end of the school year. Board member Karen Vidrine said the tennis shoes should look as close to professional as possible and not include, for example, “six-inch platform shoes.”
In other business, Lazard reminded everyone schools and offices will be closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, February 15-17, for President’s Day and the Mardi Gras holidays. He also said bringing all students back for in-person learning has gone “extremely well,” and they have not had any significant problems. “Where we needed to make adjustments, we have. We’ll continue monitoring the situation. We have a COVID taskforce that meets everyday at 3:00, and we look at it campus by campus and by grade cluster. Generally speaking, our numbers are better in our schools than Evangeline Parish as a whole.” He attributes that to teachers, students, custodial personnel, and all staff working with the schools.
Vidrine said parents have asked if the younger students can be in groups again. Lazard said they would like that from an academic standpoint, but it is challenging. “We found out that sometimes one person with an issue is enough to take out a whole bunch of folks. We have had something like that happen, so we try to minimize that.”
Joseph asked if they could return to school five days a week. Currently, Wednesdays are off days for students as schools are sanitized and teachers hold office hours. Lazard said at some point things will go back to normal, and he has directed the staff to plan for a “normal” school year in August. “Can I guarantee that’s going to happen? I can’t, but that’s what we’re planning for. At some point, before the school year ends, to be able to transition to that.” He said they have not set a date for that yet, because he wants to see how they are looking in terms of COVID numbers.
Lazard added Wednesdays have been popular across the district. “We certainly don’t want to do anything to add to the stress of our employees, but we also want to be thinking about next year,” he said. “Our students have missed quite a bit of school. Between hurricanes and quarantines, I’m concerned about the amount of instructional time that’s been lost for students of Evangeline Parish. The day of reckoning is going to come. The kids that are struggling this year, if we don’t do something, they’re going to be struggling next year.” He added he and his staff are exploring federal grants to have a voluntary summer enrichment program for students who may have done well, but still need a little more work to better themselves. Also, they are looking at having a traditional summer school for students who need to catch up.