St. Petersburg Times: School Board remains firm on shower rule
sallyje...@yahoo.com
WILMA NORTON
411 words
27 August 1987
St. Petersburg Times
CITY
3B
English
(Copyright 1987)
CLEARWATER - Richard and Meryl Geller got no sympathy from the Pinellas
School Board as they argued Wednesday against mandatory showers in
schools.
The board supported strict enforcement of a requirement that middle and
high school students shower after physical education or face
disciplinary action.
``This issue has been raised before,`` said member Bert Blomquist,
``but usually by people who want to insist it be enforced
consistently.``
Superintendent Scott Rose said, ``If we don't think it's important to
shower after physical activity, we need to change our health
curriculum, because that's what we teach.``
The Gellers, who live in Tarpon Springs, oppose the rule, saying the
public showers will expose their 10-year-old son to unneeded
embarrassment.
``It subjects children to a period of stress that's unnecessary and
distracts from the reason from going to school,`` Mrs. Geller said.
The school system has had the showering rule for a number of years, but
has not enforced it strictly.
``We have been lax,`` Rose said. ``There's probably no excuse for
that.``
Board member Bob Moore, a retired principal, said a few students always
objected to showers. ``After a few days, they got over the
embarrassment and were fine,`` he said.
The school system has strict rules on how much of a student's body must
be covered in class, and clothing items such as shorts and midriff
shirts are prohibited, Mrs. Geller said.
``We thought it very ironic for them to be so concerned about
(students) showing their bodies,`` she said, ``when they are so
unconcerned about them showing their private parts in the showers.``
In other action Wednesday, the School Board:
Approved salary schedules for teachers and administrators. Teacher
salary increases in the new teachers contract, approved Tuesday by the
Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, range from 6.1 to 20.4
percent. Administrators will get a 6.94 percent increase.
Complained about construction problems at Azalea Middle School. The
discovery of asbestos there this summer delayed the installation of new
air conditioning. The school is expected to be ready by Monday,
officials said. School Board members said sloppy work by construction
workers - such as mixing plaster in locker room sinks - delayed clean
up.
Agreed to work with St. Petersburg Junior College on a centralized
facility for police training. The school system now provides some
training, while the junior college offers courses for college credit.
Document End
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