This State Wants to Enforce a School Dress Code for Parents

School dress codes are pretty commonplace. But Tennessee lawmakers are attracting attention for trying to pass a new school dress code for…parents.

The push for the legislation follows complaints from school workers and parents who have witnessed other parents show up for pick-up and drop-off wearing inappropriate attire, TODAY Style reports.

State representative Antonio Parkinson is spearheading the campaign.

“People wearing next to nothing. People wearing shirts or tattoos with expletives. People coming onto a school campus and cursing the principal or the teacher out. These things happen regularly,” Parkinson tells TODAY Style.

One principal claims a mother came into his office for a meeting while still in sleepwear and with “body parts hanging out.” Additionally, a mom told TODAY some parents let their pants hang too low or sport graphic shirts with explicit wording.

The dress code section of the bill is gaining the most attention, but it’s part of a bigger push for a formal code of conduct for adults to follow while on school property. And it’s not just parents who Parkinson is calling out.

“Whether you’re there to work, whether you’re a teacher, a parent, a vendor, a visitor, a speaker—anyone who steps on a school campus should be held to a basic minimum expectation of conduct and behavior. That includes how one dresses,” he explains to TODAY Style.

Needless to say, Parkinson’s efforts have been met with both positive and negative reactions from the school community. While many agree with the standards the state rep wants parents to meet, others think there are more important issues to focus on, including, as one parent points out to TODAY Style, Tennessee’s historically low-ranking education system.