It’s uniform time for students at three Brunswick County elementary schools, but two of them didn’t exactly see it coming.
The vote to allow uniforms at Lincoln Elementary was on the agenda at last night’s school board meeting, but parents of students at Belville Elementary and Town Creek Elementary didn’t realize the vote would affect them too.
“I would have liked to have known when the meeting was going to be,” said Allyson Rathburn who is against uniforms.
Whether they like it or not, Belville Elementary moms will be sending their kids to school in uniforms.
Tuesday night’s school board agenda included voting on uniforms for Lincoln Elementary, not Belville and Town Creek. However, Brunswick County School Board Chair Shirley Babson said she felt it was a good time to discuss implementing uniforms at more than just one school. “We have to make decisions based on what is best for the children,” Babson said.
Lincoln elementary saw it coming, and teachers and parents seem happy with the outcome. “It would bring a sense of unity among the students,” said second grade teacher Carolyn Harrington.
The students are not exactly thrilled. “We’ll all look the same and everyone will say you copied me,” explained second grader Dreonna Tompkins.
Though Belville parents didn’t know about Tuesday’s vote, they were asked for input a couple weeks ago in a take-home survey.
“Some of the comments students made were they want to feel like everybody else, I want to be a part of something,” said Belville Principal Tracy Coston.
The school board said over the next few months they are going to look into uniforms for all the Brunswick County elementary schools.