Student's petition leads to vote on Rosepine school uniforms

A Rosepine High School student is leading the charge this week as voting begins today to decide the fate of uniforms at the school’s campus.

Sophomore Lynnsey Brown said that she began the movement to challenge the uniforms at her school because she believed they were harmful to the self-esteem of her fellow students.

“Uniforms really only compliment one body type, and if someone is forced to wear clothing every day that does not compliment their body then it’s definitely going to hurt their self-image and even their academic performance,” Brown stated.

While similar attempts to overthrow the uniform requirement have failed in the past, Brown said that she refused to be deterred.

“I just accepted the difficulty as a challenge,” she said.

Brown created a petition against the uniforms in four parts; she collected signatures from students, faculty members, parents and even Rosepine community members.

“She was driven,” her mother, Kim stated. “She was at ballgames and local stores. Anywhere a crowd might be, she was there spreading the word about what she was trying to accomplish.”

Brown succeeded in getting the community behind her. When she presented her petition to her school’s administration she had over 1,200 signatures on the petition. Over 500 of those were from students.

“I thought it was important for everyone to understand that this wasn’t just the parents or teachers behind this, this was from the students,” she said.

With the support of school board member John Blankenbaker, Rosepine High School Principal Johnny Bosley and Elementary Principal Sandra Blakeway agreed to hold a vote throughout the week, ending on Friday.

According to a letter sent home to parents earlier this month, one vote will be allowed per household by students’ parents at each school. If a parent has a child in both schools, they will be allowed to cast a vote at each school.

Of the nine high schools in Vernon Parish, only three require students to wear uniforms.  

“All I am after is for our school to follow the dress code policy set by the school board so that students can wear clothing that is acceptable, but also fits their body type so that they can feel confident in themselves.”

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