The current state of education in Texas suggests COVID19 and student achievement should be the number one priority of district administrators. Yet, administrators in the Clyde Consolidated Independent School District, about 135 miles west of Fort Worth, seem to have created what could be an embarrassing situation for themselves.
According to a story on the NBC News website, a male student at Clyde High School was placed in the In-school Suspension room (ISS) for wearing nail polish on his fingernails, which is a violation of the school’s dress policy. A photo on the website shows a hand with short nails with flames painted on each nail. The student, who according to the article, is openly gay, attributes the action to sexism and homophobia. The student quipped, “Welcome to west Texas.”
Several facets of the article caused me to question this action. First, ISS takes students out of the classroom and away from instruction and places them in a room where they are expected to sit quietly all day. Typically, students cannot sleep or chat in ISS but may work on their assignments or homework. The day is meant to be dreadfully boring, thus deterring future rule infractions. As we are mid-COVID19, with authentic achievement hovering at bare minimum, students should not be removed from instruction unless absolutely necessary.
Next, I believe rules should be followed, but I also believe rules should be relevant and make sense. We live in a time where people polish their dogs’ nails. Why does it matter if a male student painted flames on his fingernails? Much like bright pink hair, light up shoes or hoodies, why are we creating hills to die on when ¾ of all fourth graders, eighth graders and seniors cannot read proficiently or calculate basic math computations?
Finally, while the nail polish rule may be sexist, I don’t believe this is about homopho-bia at all. Males painting their fingernails is not a new concept. In the 90’s, males in the gothic circles grew their nails long and painted them black. In this case, the student’s nails were not creating a distraction, they weren’t overtly offensive, and they probably went largely unnoticed until a news story was written about them.
I support the district’s efforts to maintain adherence to policies. However, perhaps it’s time the district review policies and determine which may need updating. More importantly, maybe the district should consider if this is the time to internally suspend a student for painted nails. Every district in America has much bigger fish to fry right now. Does fingernail polish matter at all in the greater scheme of things?
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