©2009 PHOTO BY DUAY O'NEIL

Cocke County High School Assistant Principal Gail Burchette displayed opaque tights to
members of the Cocke County Board of Education during their meeting Thursday. Burchette's
modeling came during a board discussion regarding a proposed change in the system's current
dress code. With Burchette are her daughter Caitlin, left, and Katie Caughron, both CCHS juniors.

NEWPORT-For the time being, Mohawk haircuts remain nixed for county elementary school students after members of the Cocke County Board of Education voted unanimously to leave the current policy forbidding such styles in place.

The board's decision came after a request from at least some elementary school principals to make the decision of whether or not to permit such styles an individual school policy.

"I have a tiny problem with the haircut thing," said board member Pat Proffitt. "It seems to me that it would be easier for the kids if this were simply a do or don't thing."

Board member Dr. Ken Johnson quickly agreed, calling such a move a "mixed policy."

"You would have different rules for different schools," he added.

Also voicing their agreements were board members Rose Lovell, who said, "Treat everyone the same," and Marty Denton, who pointed out potential problems if a student attending a school which permitted such a haircut transferred to a school which forbids it.

The policy does not apply to students attending Cocke County's two high schools.

In a related matter, board members unanimously approved a request by the Cocke County High School Student Council and CCHS administration to change current dress code policies regarding holes in jeans and the wearing of opaque tights and/or leggings.

CCHS Student Council President Luke Bell, accompanied by several CCHS students, presented each board member a letter outlining the requests.

Current board policy states that a student's outer garment "must be in compliance with the dress code." The students requested the board to allow student to wear "shorts or leggings beneath holey jeans" and that "holes [be] allowed above the knees so long as no flesh or undergarments can be seen and the hole is not in the crotch area."

The students also asked that students be allowed to wear opaque tights and/or leggings "beneath skirts and dresses" as long as the "skirts and dresses [are] finger tip length."

The request stated, "Dresses and skirts worn without opaque leggings or tights will still need to adhere to the rule of no more than four inches above the knees."

When board members asked for clarification of the term "opaque," CCHS Assistant Principal Gail Burchette, who was wearing such tights, stepped forward and modeled for the board.

In other business, the board unanimously approved Del Rio Elementary School's request to purchase a one-year subscription from Education City for K-2 Language Arts and Science at a cost of $650.

Also approved were the purchase of new basketball uniforms for Parrottsville Elementary School from Poe's Sports at a cost of $2508.80, the purchase of a combination oven at a cost of $29,643.95 from Dykes Restaurant Supply for Cosby, and a walk-in freezer at a cost of $12,437.15 from KATOM Restaurant Supply for Del Rio.