`School board, despite parents' anger, stands by prom dress decision`

By Jennifer Hall
Herald Staff Writer

Parents of Sharon High School students attending the prom asked the school board Monday what to do with prom dresses deemed inappropriate and for permission to take the high school principal to area dress shops to give dresses a thumbs up or a thumbs down prior to purchase.

``I've never seen an inappropriate dress and I think our girls have good sense and the parents that go with them have good sense,'' said Cynthia Yanicko, whose daughter, Tory, is going to the prom.

Mrs. Yanicko spent about $320 on a dress for her daughter. The dress, which has the sides cut out but does cover the stomach area, is on layaway at The Winner and cannot be returned if it's paid in full and cannot be taken from the store while on layaway.

``This is a lot of money we are talking about here,'' she said. ``Can I have the authority to take Mr. (Russell) George to The Winner?''

Mrs. Yanicko brought her concerns to the board after George said Friday that Sharon junior Veronica Porterfield's dress was not appropriate because it exposed her midriff.

And the board is standing by the decision.

``It's unfortunate that you have purchased a dress that is banned,'' said the Rev. Lora Adams-King, board president. ``Right now the dress is banned. We are in the process of rewriting and looking at policy and we are supporting the administration.''

Veronica said her two-piece dress is powder blue and exposes about three inches of her stomach, but does not expose her navel. It also has a slit up the side.

Veronica's mother, Marlene Porterfield, said she consulted the school's dress code before paying $277 for her daughter's dress and did not think it violated policy.

``When I purchased the dress there was no ban on this and then boom,'' she said. ``When we bought this I honestly thought we were doing nothing wrong.''

The mothers questioned why you would change a dress code for proms two months before the event when many girls must have their dresses ordered by the end of February. Mrs. Porterfield questioned what was wrong with midriff when the cut of other dresses reveals more.

``My problem is with the policies because if it's not written, no wonder it's confusing,'' Mrs. Porterfield said. ``But with this dress she's going to fit right in with the cleavage and bare backs. With all of that, no one is going to notice her midriff.''

The parents were urging the directors to reconsider the ban on the dresses for this year until the new policy is adopted.

``I think we just have to put it into the hands of our administrators,'' said school director Nicholas Morocco, who also suggested that parents form a committee to look at future prom styles to create an up-to-date policy, which would be distributed to parents in early January.

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Updated March 18, 1997
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