BY JOSEPH B. NADEAU

WOONSOCKET — It took half the summer but the school department now has a green light from the state to implement a mandatory school uniform policy in local schools.

State Sen. Roger A. Picard (D-Dist. 20) said Wednesday the enabling legislation he helped sponsor in the General Assembly became law without Gov. Donald Carcieri’s signature on Aug. 6.  The Govenor had 10 days to either sign or veto the bill before it became law without action by his office, Picard noted.
“I’m happy we got it through,” Picard said. “It took two years to do it but it gives the Woonsocket School Department the opportunity to do something creative,” he said.
The implementation of the provision would make Woonsocket the first school district in the state to require a formal uniform for public school students.
The bill as approved by the General Assembly would enact a uniform policy in at all  school levels, elementary, middle school and high school.
The School Committee has already approved the type of uniform it would require, khaki or black slacks and maroon or gray polo or t-shirt type tops. Girls could also choose to wear a skort (a combination short and skirt garment) and maroon or gray sweaters or sweat-shirts without hoods or markings would also be allowed.
The committee expected the uniform bill to become law before the end of school and in light of a provision requiring parents to have 90-days notice, have not yet finalized a plan for its actual implementation.
 School Committee Chairman Marc A. Dubois, who advocated the policy as a way to provide greater student focus on school work, told his peers Wednesday night the panel will now have to decide when to put the policy into effect.
 While he had suggested several weeks ago it might be better to wait until next year to implement the policy since parents are already buying school clothes for the coming year, “I was only speaking for myself,” Dubois said. The policy would have to be placed on an upcoming committee agenda for a vote on its implementation, according to Dubois.
The committee could decide to give notice to parents now, he said, and move to implement the policy 90 days from that point or at mid-year instead of the start of the following school year, he said.
 “It’s up to the whole committee,” he said.
 Picard noted that in addition to his filing the enabling bill in the Senate, local State Representative Christopher Fierro (D-Dist. 51) filed a similar measure in the House that was eventually combined with his legislation.
 The policy is intended to eliminate distracting types of clothing now worn by some students and also prohibit any type of clothes that could be associated with gang behavior. School officials, including School Committee members Linda Majewski and Eleanor Nadeau who served on the uniform policy subcommittee, have also advocated the change as a way to save parents money on student clothing.
 While supported by school officials, the bill did face opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union at its legislative hearings as a potential impediment to a student’s rights and also for having no proven record for improving education performance.
 Picard said he was aware of those criticisms but did not know how they might affect implementation of the policy.
 The next step will be up to the School Committee, he said. “It has become law and now it is up them as to how it will be implemented,” Picard said.
 
 
 
The style of uniform given final approval on Wednesday will require students to wear black or khaki uniform slacks and maroon or gray polo shirts or t-shirts, both short and long sleeved. Maroon or gray sweaters or sweat-shirts without hoods or zippers would also be allowed.
 The panel also voted to require students to wear black, brown, or white footwear that can include sneakers