Albany school board to allow sports bras as practice shirts
ALBANY — Students will be able to wear sports bras as shirts at athletic practices this fall, according to a draft of the 2022-2023 dress code that would officially end the district’s controversial band of such garments.
The board plans to vote July 21 to approve revisions to the dress code, allowing athletes to use a sports bra as a top.
“Any student who would like to wear a sports bra is welcome to do so at any athletic practice,” said board Vice President Anne Savage, who is confident the revision will pass. It has been reviewed by the board in committee already.
Competition wear is not under any single school district’s control. But at practices, each
school district’s dress code applies.
On May 11, girls on the track team wore only their sports bras while practicing during a heat wave, and a confrontation over the rules led to their suspension.
Savage declined to discuss that situation. But she said the board agreed that the dress code needed more flexibility.
“What we did not have explicitly in the code before was separate codes for specific activities,” she said. “Such as eye protection in science labs, proper footwear in gym.”
Now, teachers will be able to “formalize the expectations” for their activities, and those expectations will be the enforceable dress code for that activity.
“It’s going to come down to the district administration to establish those rules (for various activities) as is appropriate,” she said, adding that the board put the sports bras in writing in the proposed revisions and confirmed that district officials would allow them.
Sports bras won’t be allowed as outerwear during the academic portion of the day.
“The way the new code reads, you have to cover necessary parts of the body,” she said, “Your underwear cannot be the only thing you are wearing when you come to school.”
As for whether Athletic Director Ashley Chapple handled the sports bras situation correctly, Savage said the board could not comment due to a policy of not discussing “any (human resources) matters with the press.”
“The question is, did we do the right thing? And I believe we have handled the situation as best as we could,” she said.