Girls heading to prom at a central Minnesota high school in April won't have to get their dresses preapproved after all.
Osakis superintendent says prom dress preapproval merely a suggestion
Girls had been told they would have to submit photos of their dresses.
February 22, 2017 at 3:58AM
A day after an Osakis High School prom co-adviser said that the school would require girls to submit photos of themselves in their chosen dress to meet the school's new dress code, the school's interim superintendent, Randal Bergquist, issued a statement saying that submitting a photo was merely a suggestion.
"We are not going to require any such photo before the prom," the statement said.
On Monday, prom co-adviser Bobbi Jo Haakinson said the school's dress policy had changed from last year to this year. "Last year it was a more strict code, as in no midriff, no lacy material," Haakinson said.
The school is changing the code this year, allowing bare midriffs, for instance, because styles have changed, Haakinson said.
"I've talked to a lot of the kids and parents and they just said 'You can't find a dress that does meet the old dress code,' " Haakinson said.
The district has had a dress policy for years, and students who wondered whether their dress would pass muster on prom night were invited to submit photos in prior years, she said.
The issue of the prom dress code policy came up at a school board meeting recently.
The idea to submit photos this year "was just to avoid anybody spending upwards of $500 to $800 on a prom dress" only to be told on prom night that it's inappropriate, Haakinson said.
She had said prom advisers would review the photos and decide whether dresses meet the new dress codes, which, she added, were still being finalized in writing. If they needed to, the advisers would send it to school board members for a decision, Haakinson said.
Boys attending prom would not be required to submit photos, Haakinson had said, though there are rules for appropriate attire for boys, too.
"Typically the boys wear a tux and it's not something that we would need to have them submit," she said. "A tux is a tux."
Pam Louwagie • 612-673-7102
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