Students at the 7th and 8th Grade Center must wear khaki colored bottoms Monday when they return to class because the Muskogee Board of Education failed to approve a proposal to allow black pants.

In a vote split by gender, with member Dan Shiew absent, the school board split 2-2 on a proposal to allow black pants, jeans, shorts, skorts, skirts or jumpers at the school. Members Muriel Saunders and Stacey Alexander voted for the proposal; John Barton and Keith Biglow voted against the proposal. The vote means the current policy barring black bottoms will stand, Superintendent Mike Garde said.

Parents attending the meeting said students should be allowed to wear black or dark-colored pants.

“They should take into consideration that girls at ‘that time of the month’ feel comfortable in black pants,” Aanje McDaniel said, referring to a woman’s menstrual cycle.

The women attending the meeting said they had daughters at the school, which allowed black pants last year. The board amended the policy in June to disallow wearing black tops and black bottoms and to allow wearing approved “spirit shirts.”

“I spent tons of money for black pants when they were allowed last year,” said Shelia Dause. “Are they going to reimburse me now?”

Julie White said the restriction is discriminatory because no other Muskogee school has such a strict dress code, including Ben Franklin Science Academy and Sadler Arts Academy, which have seventh and eighth grades.

“We’re going to spend more time and effort on stupid stuff than on education,” White said.

Board members at Tuesday’s meeting were adamant in their positions.

“My understanding was that black items were inadvertently left off the list,” Saunders said. “Kids know they’re not to wear black on black. Black is necessary for young ladies because of the situations that can cause severe embarrassment.”

Alexander said she’d “like to lose the entire dress code.”

Saunders and Alexander said they had heard from girls’ parents who want the black items returned to the allowed list.

Barton said the only response he got “was to leave it alone, from the mother of a girl.”

“We have been through this several times and voted on the new policy in June,” he said, reminding the board that the 7th and 8th Grade Center’s Rougher Roundup back to school night was that evening.

Biglow said, “We have been over this, and we are going back and forth and back and forth.”