Rockdale Citizen

CONYERS -- School officials and community members are still considering a uniform policy or stricter dress code for Rockdale County Public Schools.

Cindy Ball, director of Community Relations for RCPS, recently informed the Rockdale County Board of Education that she continues to collect data to determine if the school system needs to move forward with developing a uniform or strict dress code for its students.

Although school officials have discussed the idea of such a policy for the last couple of years, only recently have officials begun collecting data.

Earlier this year, RCPS conducted phone and Web surveys to ask for parents' opinions about a uniform program -- if they would like it for elementary, middle or high school students, if they are concerned about costs and if they believe it would provide a better learning environment for students.

"We just don't know who was pushing the buttons," Ball said about the survey. "It did tell us through responses that we should form a committee."

So she gathered 24 parents, teachers and administrators with representation from all school levels, as well as community members, to further explore the topic. The group formed two subcommittees -- one will provide research on uniform programs and the other will be in charge of communication and implementation of such a program if developed.

The research group is looking at information online, university studies and talking with people. It is continuously uploading information to a portal for the rest of the group members to see, Ball said.

The communication subcommittee is thinking about the process it would take if RCPS decides to move forward with the program, she said. This could include more surveys to parents and collecting more concrete information.

Although Ball said the group will have another update over the next couple of weeks, any change in dress code won't be implemented as soon.

"No program change will happen for the next school year," she said, adding that no timeline has been developed. "It's going to take some time for research and implementation."