Eschewing in a new swathe of leadership into the district, public turnout was strong for Tuesday night’s Trigg County Schools “Meet & Greet” at the Co-Curricular Building — as many gathered to glean insight on hopes and expectations for the 2024-25 academic year.
Among the newest faces: Trigg County High School Principal Kristee Barnes and Assistant Principal Taylor Caldwell.
A graduate of Trigg County, Class of 1988, Barnes said she was very much looking forward to completing the life circle — giving back to a community that once gave her so much as a student-athlete.
A three-part plan, she said, will help bring this perspective into focus: culture, community engagement, communication.
Already, she’s been part of a lengthy SBDM meeting discussing, and now implementing, student dress codes for this year — and beyond.
Between the hours of 7:25 AM and 3:05 PM, students shall:
— Not wear hats, headbands, bonnets or head coverings;
— Not don hoods on hoodies;
— Not wear anything that contains logos, pictures, or writings that: a) promote alcohol, tobacco, drugs, violence, or illegal behaviors, b) depict vulgar, obscene, sexual, or racial images, c) contain religious harassment, derogatory language, inappropriate innuendo, or profanity; and/or d) include any writing, symbol, illustration, name, iconography or sign of gang names or graffiti
— Wear shoes at all times;
— Not wear pajamas, including pajama bottoms;
— Have undergarments be completely concealed at all times;
— And see-through clothing may only be worn if clothing underneath meets other dress code guidelines, while no sheer or lace clothing may be worn unless the clothing underneath meets the dress code requirements.
Furthermore:
— All tops must keep the entire shoulder covered at all times, meaning no spaghetti straps or tanks.
— All tops must completely cover a student’s midriff while they are standing and sitting.
— All tops must be worn so that the chest, cleavage, and backs of students are not exposed.
— And only regular fitting lightweight zip up jackets may be worn in class. All rain jackets, oversized coats and winter jackets must be placed in the locker upon arrival.
— All lower body apparel (shorts, skirts and dresses) must hit as an individual student’s mid thigh. This includes all genders and applies for all field trips, and all events.
— Lower body apparel that has holes is deemed inappropriate if skin or undergarments are exposed at any point that is higher than the mid thigh.
— Students may wear leggings, yoga pants and other form-fitting apparel, but if they choose to do so, they must wear a top or jacket that fully covers their bottoms.
And:
— No sagging.
— No gloves may be worn on the hands.
— No jewelry deemed inappropriate or dangerous by school officials.
— No leather collars/wrist bands containing hard metals or spikes, nor metal chains.
— Only medically necessary prescription sunglasses are allowed.
— No other unnecessary accessories, such as towels and rags.
— And use of earbuds and headphones is at teacher’s discretion, particularly for Chromebooks. However, only one earbud may ever be in use at any time.
Barnes said students need to start preparing for the job force now.
Another step in that “growing up” process is Trigg County’s newly-renovated CTE and vocational school — which has its open house August 2 under a familiar face, Erin Eagleson.
Caldwell, a 2012 graduate of Graves County, knows this realm well — having come to Cadiz after a professional stint at the Murray/Calloway County Area Technology Center.
He said it was so cool to see more districts pushing toward career and tech education, with lots of businesses and industry in desperate, desperate need of a younger workforce, with many approaching retirement, and no one waiting in the wings.
Caldwell also noted he pursued administration because while the classroom allowed him to serve 50-to-60 kids a day, leadership allowed him to impact even more.
