TPS board leaves alone revised dress code

The Tucumcari Public Schools board during a special meeting last week chose to let the district’s revised dress code stand after hearing from coaches and other sponsors of extra-curricular activities.

The board voted to approve the amended dress code during its regular meeting in July that clarified new rules about clothing, piercings and tattoos.

However, at least one board member indicated he wanted the dress code to apply equally to students in extracurricular activities, including sports.

The revised dress code states in part in its last paragraph: “Students who volunteer for extracurricular activities, such as athletics, band, chorus, et cetera, are subject to the standards of dress as defined by the sponsors for such activities.”

Board member Jerry Lopez said during the previous meeting and at the special meeting on Aug. 1 he wanted a dress code to apply “across the board” but wanted to hear opinions from coaches and sponsors, including several in the audience.

Donnie Garcia, the high school’s new head football coach, said he wants his players to dress appropriately before games and be well groomed.

He indicated if athletes all were individualistic in their personal appearance, “it’s hard for us to built that unity with the kids.”

Boy basketball coach John Span said he would support whatever decision the board handed down, but he added he trims his facial hair before games and expected the same from his players.

He also said if a player had long hair that obscured his vision, it would be a safety issue.

Tim Clark, assistant wrestling coach, said wrestlers are allowed to have facial hair but meet officials must be able to conduct skin checks for contagious infections such as ringworm. He also said meet officials require certain types of uniforms for girls wrestling.

Jan Klinger, a sponsor of Tucumcari’s FFA chapter, said the organization’s national standards require participants to be well groomed.

Superintendent Aaron McKinney said he supported coaches’ ability to have higher standards for his or her players, including expulsions or suspensions for drinking and driving. “It’s a privilege” to be on a team, he said.

Board member Matthew Pacheco, a former four-sport athlete at Tucumcari, said “it’s up to coaches to have their standards” and worried whether curtailing a coach’s ability to set stricter appearance guidelines would dissuade future coaching candidates from applying.

Pacheco said he opposed an across-the-board approach to the dress code.

“It undermines the student-coach relationship,” he said. “It’s not always about learning; it’s about building character.”

Board member Bo Wallace said he believed the revised dress code should be left alone.

“I believe student-athletes should be held to a higher standard,” he said, including coaches requiring a higher grade-point average for players.

Because board members ultimately decided to make no changes to the revised dress code, McKinney recommended they table the item on the board’s action agenda. They approved tabling the matter unanimously.

Cellphone policy

McKinney said he would place the district’s cellphone usage policy for students as an action item on the board’s next meeting after they discussed it extensively.

During public comments, Lisa Montoya urged the district to set rules that would cut back on students’ use of cellphones during school. She said there was “unsupervised technology usage” by students in the gym during lunchtime, in restrooms and during classes after coursework was completed.

She said social media on cellphones has “an addictive component,” and students’ school-issued Chromebooks can allow apps that allow texting and phone calls. She said cellphones also can lead to cyberbullying and text-bombing.

Tucumcari Middle School principal Lendy Borden said students were allowed more cellphone access during the previous school year in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns. He said that failed because of “more inappropriate” use by the students, and the school would go back to more restrictive rules — namely, that cellphones be turned off and kept in lockers during school.

Borden also said district technologist Patrick Benavidez was investigating restricting access to social media apps with Chromebooks.

Clark said the Dalhart, Texas, school district imposed a rule that barred students’ use of cellphones except during lunch hour.

He said as a driver’s education instructor, he always implores students to not use cellphones, especially texting, while driving.

High-school principal Nicole Bright-Lesly said her teachers have discretion to set their own rules about cellphones. She noted some special-education students use their cellphones to take photos of instructional materials so they can take notes from them later.

“Kids will have to learn responsibilities” with cellphones, she said.

Tonya Hodges, principal at the elementary school, said her building “has very little problem” with student cellphone use. Students are not allowed to use them in class and must keep them in their backpacks.

Lopez said he disliked the lack of consistency with district cellphone policy and that the devices are “a distraction” to students.

Other action

The board officially gave permission to business manager Janet Sanchez to make time-sensitive budget adjustments, such as COVID-19 test purchases, throughout the school year.

Sanchez said those budget adjustments can range from as little as $20 to as much as $250,000.

Chavez said many of those appropriations already are approved by the New Mexico Public Education Department before they arrive at the district. The board still will hold oversight over those budget adjustments at regular meetings.