Editorials

Find a teenager who would cheer the arrival of a high-school uniform policy and you likely have found an imposter. It's a universal fact: Teens don't like school uniforms. They stifle their personal creativity, many say.

But one of the vital jobs entrusted to the leadership of local schools is ensuring a campus culture that embraces learning and discipline. Those are must-have attributes for any successful school. If having uniforms helps a school achieve its goal — educating students in the proper environment — then the idea shouldn't be summarily discounted simply because it has unpleasant side-effects for the teens who wear them.

That's where Anniston High Principal George Jordan sits today.

Concerned over repeated violations of the school's student dress code, Jordan says he's raised the school-uniform threat at a recent Anniston Board of Education meeting. Understandably, reaction hasn't brought a universal endorsement.

When asked, board members Bill Robison and Vivian Thompson were noncommittal. "I could go with it or not go with it," Robison told The Star. Member Bob Etnire said he would favor the concept. And member Jim Klinefelter raised a point that should be considered — the cost of the uniforms, and whether the families of some of Anniston High's students could afford them.

(That Anniston Middle already has a school-uniform policy didn't sway board members to rubber-stamp their approval. Though its success, if deemed as such, should be a factor in any decision.)

Jordan may not feel compelled to move forward with his school-uniform warning. Whether it's a ploy or an act of sincerity, he's tossed the idea on the table; it's generated a headline. Now it's city-wide news that Anniston High's principal is intent on cracking down on dress-code violations at the city's only public high school.

Good for Jordan.

This page has long urged community leaders to require progressive, strong leadership for the city's school system, and to expect competent direction from those placed in charge.

The removal of former Superintendent Sammy Felton from the system's throne was a major first step. It can't help but create a trickle-down effect of positive influences.

What's encouraging about Jordan's stance is that he's addressing it in the proper manner. He's jettisoned the Felton style of management — his way, with little, if any, input from others — and said that he would seek information and opinions from the community, parents and faculty before he took any school uniform idea to the board.

For a school system in need of intense, constructive community support and parental participation, that's pleasing news to hear.

In that way, Jordan's action isn't as much about dress-code violations as it is about proper leadership for a school: Be brave, seek connection with the community, and create the right educational environment.