Gerrard Kaonga
A bold father in Arizona stripped down during a school board meeting in a quest to make a statement about a change to the dress code policy.
While many fathers love the opportunity to potentially embarrass their children, Ira Latham, seemed determined to do it for a cause he cares about.
Speaking to local news AZ Family, Latham insisted the new dress code policy would be too lax and result in children simply wearing less clothes than has previously been allowed.
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The former policy had not been updated for more than two decades and did not allow students to expose their chest, abdomen or midriff. In the new policy students will only be restricted from exposing their underwear.
Latham, who has four children in the Higley Unified School District in Gilbert, Arizona, pulled his stunt in late September during a school board meeting. Wearing a crop top and short shorts, that exposed his stomach, naval and legs, the concerned father hoped to sway the minds of the shocked board members.
“Under the proposed policy, this would be appropriate in a classroom,” Latham said before stripping down and revealing his outfit underneath.
The emboldened father then did a spin to show the audience his outfit from all angles.
“As a dad, that’s very concerned about my children as well as everyone else’s kids in the district, I wanted to make a clear argument,” Latham said of his stunt.
“Before they had some guidance, but now they have no guidance. It’s just, ‘Kids, cover your underwear'.”
Latham’s protest appeared to fall on deaf ears however, as the board voted 3 to 2 in favor of the updated policy.
The governing board president, Tiffany Shultz, said Latham’s stunt had no impact on her or the meeting.
“He made his statement and we carried on with our business. We heard from other speakers and moved on,” she said.
“As a board we voted to ultimately let parents and families decide what is appropriate for them. It is the parents and family’s choice and as long as it doesn’t disrupt the school day, it would be a non-issue.
“We want teachers to be teaching and not having to waste time measuring a girl’s shirt or making a girl feel uncomfortable."
Anna Van Hoek, a board member who voted against the new code said she was concerned by the decision, however.
“The fact that we have adults advocating for children to have less clothing on is absurd to me. [Education] is what we need to concentrate on and I think it is doing these kids a disservice by allowing them to be able to wear whatever they want to school."