What is the policy at your child's school regarding cold weather?

Question

A previous poster asked if it was ok to send their child to school with long pants and a SHORT sleeved shirt if the temperature was over 45 degrees.
And most people responded YES, it is ok.

I work in a school, and I will tell you, check your school's policy. Our policy is that they need a jacket or sweatshirt if it is under 60 degrees.

45 degrees is too cold.

What do you think?

For the person who talked about her high-schooler not wearing a sweatshirt or jacket, and responded that we should stop babying them, my response to you would be that this question is posted under grade-school, not high school. Kids at a younger age need some kind of guidance.

Answer 1

If it was my child, I'd make sure they wear either a thick long sleeve top or a sweater/jacket.
I know a lot of parents that don't even dress their kids warm during the winter, and our schools says that you must have gloves, coats, hoods, boots, etc...

For fall, I don't recall seeing anything in our school policy.

Answer 2

The school that my youngest child goes to does have a general guideline that says to dress kids for the weather report for the day. For some odd reason, the playground area is always breezy even when the rest of the surrounding area isn't. So, we solve the problem at our house by always dressing in layers. Even on predicted warm days, it is generally chilly in the morning so my daughter always wears a sweatshirt or sweater over a short-sleeved shirt. If it is questionable, than I send her fleece jacket along as well. Of course, we live in Michigan where the weather is ALWAYS changing. Winter is cold here so coat, hats, and gloves are required for winter time along with boots. Kindergarten through 2nd grade must wear snow pants. So, yes, check with your school handbook or your office. Some kids dressed inappropriately are required to either go to lost and found to find something warmer or stay inside.

Answer 3

I'm a teacher and believe me if you send your kid to school w/ a short sleeve shirt in 45 degree weather the other teachers will talk. Maybe if they had like a sweatshirt jacket to wear all day if they were chilly. that would be fine. But I think it would be too cold to wear that!

Answer 4

These schools up here don't care if it is cold. They keep the heat down in the schools and tell you to put on a sweater. Sweatshirts are not allowed because ever since 9/11 people are much more paranoid that you can hide something. No coats in class eihter.
We live in Maine and in the winter in can get COLD! You can wear jackets and sweatshirts TO school but you can't wear them to class.No hats in class eihter.

Answer 5

As a teacher, I have seen kids in the dead of winter out without a coat playing football etc. I have never heard of any school having a policy like that for forty five degree weather.
We work in the inner city and many children can't afford coats and sweaters. We provide them not the parents.
My question is:
Do they get sent home if they don't wear one and it is forty five degrees?
Are the parents punished or reprimanded?
How can they enforce this rule?
I think that is a great idea in a perfect world. However, a lot of kids nowadays, dress, feed and get themselves off to school.

Answer 6

It is very sad that schools actually have to have a policy regarding this. Parents should be able to recognize the fact that their child will be cold. Maybe the parent should wake up and actually ask the child "Are you cold?". Instead let's just let the school set the policy so the parents don't have to think.

Natural selection is not working fast enough on some of these idiots.

Answer 7

45 is too cold to send a kid out with just a short sleeved shirt.

I don't know if my child's school has a policy on this. But I'm going to look.

I find it odd that most would answer yes.

Answer 8

At 45 degrees, short sleeves is too cold...they at least need to wear a hoodie over the top or a jacket, that way they can remove a layer if it warms up.

Answer 9

My daughter is in high school and they do have a dress code but as far as coats and jackets go well, good luck.They usually don't wear them, it's not cool. I see the kids out in 45 and below wearing t-shirts. The school can't follow them around and tell them to put on a jacket. Besides a little cold air isn't going to hurt them. Stop babying these kids.

Answer 10

it could be possible that the ones who said yes were thinking in celsius?

i'm from hawaii. we wear sweaters, pants and socks to bed when it hits 65. We would die if it dropped below 60 (record cold in my memory is 55, and everybody alive at the time remembers where they were that night, and it made the front page headlines the next day.)