A committee will be formed to research if Dublin ISD teachers should be allowed to have visible tattoos at school after a group of teachers provided ongoing feedback over the past several months.
At the Monday, July 22 Dublin ISD School board, a group of teachers led by fifth grade teacher Clara Dowers and fifth grade teacher Karina Kunkel implored the district to change the employee dress code in the handbook, stating that visible tattoos that meet certain criteria should be permitted.
Dowers again presented the board with data including a survey completed by 76 DISD employees.
In the survey, it was found that 57.9% of employees had tattoos.
Also, in the survey 72% were OK with appropriate tattoos being shown and 76% stated they were not uncomfortable working with someone who has tattoos. More than 67% of those polled said they believe tattoos are not a distraction to student learning.
75% of those polled stated that if the teacher/ staff dress code policy was changed to allow tattoos that they would support it.
“Tattoos on teachers and staff must be covered, and while we understand that some tattoos are not appropriate to be shown in a school setting, the majority of tattoos are simply an artistic representation of one’s personality, beliefs and culture,” she said.
“A change may encourage young teachers to come and stay at Dublin ISD,” Dowers said. “It is the responsibility of the board to support teachers and their interest and adopt policies to adapt change. Tattoos do not carry the same stigma as they use to. I hope that you work in interest of the data and change the policy to reflect the current opinions of your staff and teachers.”
Kunkel also addressed the board and shared a list of nearby districts and what their policies state. Many allow what they deem to be appropriate tattoos.
“While I understand that some people may be uncomfortable with certain depictions, they can be regulated and have can have a set of parameters applied,” she said.
She also addressed the idea that tattoos may be a distraction for students and countered that in some instances covering tattoos could prove more distracting and that once the novelty has worn off, students simply forget they are there.
“Students already see tattoos every day so seeing them on educated professionals who are working on improving their community should have a minimal effect on the students’ ability to learn inside the classroom,” she said.
Since staff dress code was a listed agenda item, the board members were able to provide feedback to the group.
“We appreciate the way you have approached this and have been extremely professional and respectful,” Superintendent Melissa Summers said.
Board President Bob Cervetto thanked the group for their time working on this issue and collecting data.
“I’m not opposed to it but I think we need to have a plan,” he said. “I don’t think it’s as easy as saying, ‘Ok, we’re good.’” Cervetto said the process reminded him of when the district began considering a 4-day work week. The district didn’t immediately switch, but rather formed a committee, did some research, asked staff, students and parents and then implemented a hybrid schedule.
“I think as we look at this, we want to form a committee and you may say, ‘this isn’t that hard,’” Cervetto said. The board president said that unlike other dress code changes, like hair, tattoos were permanent.
“It’s in your document that inappropriate ones have to be covered up,” he said. “Who’s doing that? Is that going to be the principal? Is that going to be a committee? I don’t know. That’s what we have to figure out. I’m on the fence on this thing. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want teachers to teach and kids to learn.”
Cervetto said community input would be important moving forward.
“It’s not that anyone is against it, it’s just how do you manage it?” he asked.
Board member Raymond Salinas also stated his appreciated the teachers’ passion.
“I don’t have an issue with tattoos but I’m looking at this and DeLeon’s policy says ‘no offensive or obscene tattoos are permitted.’ Who regulates what’s obscene and what is not?” Salinas asked. “Everybody has a different level of that.”
“If it’s good for the kids, I’ll make that decision. I’m going to go there every time. I think that’s what we pride ourselves on,” he said.
The board also discussed the upcoming budget and proposed tax rate. This year’s proposed tax rate is the same as last year with $.8732 for per $100 evaluation for 2024-25 – with $0.7575 for Maintenance and Operations and $0.1157 for Interest and Sinking (debt services) per $100 valuation.
Business Manager Kassi Eads explained that the final tax rate would likely be lower than this but they cannot make the tax rate higher than the proposed.
Eads explained that currently the proposed budget is balanced after much work due to cuts by the state.
“It’s not our fault and it’s not CAD’s,” Eads said about increasing property taxes.
“Not every school district has a balanced budget,” School board member Pat Leatherwood said.
“We are in a better place than many other schools, but this budget is extremely lean,” Eads said.
“We really appreciate everything you’ve done,” Summers said to Eads.
The board also approved new staff contracts including: Twila Mann, Timothy Goff, Lynzee Bennett, Tina Lee, Christina Kennedy, Hayden Hoerdemann, Chrystal White-Pena, Greg Cisneroz and Ian Newton.
Summers said all positions have been filled other than a single coach job.
In other business the school board:
■ received information about the 2024-25 student handbook and the 2024 25 employee handbook
■ approved the student code of conduct for 2024 25. A major change is that nicotine pouches are not permitted.