School says no to beanies
A Southland father is upset his daughter is not allowed to wear a beanie to school on cold winter mornings to keep her head warm, but the principal says the school is enforcing its uniform policy.
Daniel Mclean, whose daughter attends Central Southland College, is concerned that ‘‘no matter how bad the weather gets’’, children at the school are not allowed to wear a beanie across the school line.
He believes the decision not to allow students to wear a warming hat lacks compassion.
‘‘Beanies are a no-brainer down here in Southland.’’
The region has endured hard frosts and temperatures below zero this week.
Central Southland College principal Grant Dick said beanies were not part of the school uniform, so staff could not allow them to be worn at the school. The board set the uniform policy and the staff enforced it, he said.
He rejected claims the school lacked compassion, saying they had made such allowances in the past on compassionate grounds.
Ironically, a school dean had made a proposal to the board to possibly add beanies to the uniform attire, just before Mclean raised his concerns. This would be considered by the board, the principal said. But he did not believe beanies were needed.
The students were inside most of the time, the rooms were heated and it was another item that could be lost.
Mclean said his daughter had refused to wear a beanie so as not to get into trouble over wearing the incorrect uniform.
But he believed ‘‘common sense should prevail’’ and she should be allowed to wear one until she entered the classroom.
Mclean said a senior school staffer had told him children were not allowed to wear beanies on the way to school or at school.
But he had come to an agreement with the school staffer that his daughter could wear the beanie up to the school gate, he said.
Dick said the school’s ‘‘official line’’ was students had to wear their school uniform to and from school, but no-one would be taking a beanie from a child on a cold winter morning as they travelled towards the school.
‘‘The official school policy is no beanie, but we understand in these winter conditions a child may need to wear a beanie on the way to and from school.’’
‘‘Beanies are a nobrainer down here.’’ Daniel Mclean says students should be allowed beanies to keep warm.