By Kyle Roberts
As part of Tuesday’s monthly board meeting, members of the Lincoln Parish School Board unanimously voted to adopt a school uniform policy at Choudrant Elementary, and students will begin wearing school uniforms at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year.
Principal Jennifer Martin addressed the school board asking that the proposal be passed through vote.
“Our main point is school safety,” Martin said. “Right now, (the students) can wear anything they want, and if you were to look on the playground or the courtyard, we cannot quickly decipher who is supposed to be on our campus and who is not. And we want to provide a sense of group identity to our students where they can develop a sense they are part of something bigger than themselves.
“This will also help our parents where they won’t have to argue with their kids about what they have to wear to school. It will also help with a distracted-learning environment — sometimes the students are more worried about what they have on and if it matches their peers. We feel like school uniforms will help with this.”
Lincoln Parish School Board Superintendent Ricky Durrett echoed Martin’s sentiments about the uniforms and the benefits that may come from the implementation.
“It’s helped lower bullying at other schools, when it comes to what some of our kids wear,” Durrett said. “It puts kids all on a level playing field and stops some of the opportunities for bullying and making fun of kids and that sort of stuff.”
Choudrant Elementary is the final school in the Lincoln Parish School district to adopt school uniform protocols.
Durrett said that he does not anticipate much pushback, stating that Choudrant High School already requires uniforms for incoming students.
“It has been pretty well-expected by this point,” Durrett said. “She talked to the parent/teacher committee and to teachers — there may be a few people, but I don’t anticipate a big pushback.”
For the latest local news, subscribe FOR FREE to the Lincoln Parish Journal and receive an email each weekday morning at 6:55 right to your inbox. Just CLICK HERE to sign up.
