MMS Parents Receive Email Warning About Required Clothing

Less than 24 hours after the Millburn Board of Education addressed hazing issues, middle school parents received an e-mail from the school administration warning them to ignore a text message about students being required to wear a specific type of clothing.

A middle school parent who wished not to be identified said some middle school girls received a text message about wearing black shirts to school.

Millburn Middle School Principal Michael Cahill sent an e-mail to parents at 3:30 p.m. warning them about a message sent to a number of middle school students "about wearing a specific color or type of clothing at a certain time."

"Please know that this kind of message does not originate from, nor is condoned by, the Middle School," Cahill wrote in the e-mail. "A student or group of students is not permitted to pressure others to wear certain types of clothes."

Cahill also wrote that students who are confronted about what they are or are not wearing should tell the middle school staff so they can deal with the issue.

Schools Supt. Richard Brodow could not be reached for comment immediately.

The message to middle school parents comes as the high school administration is confronting hazing and bullying issues from the first day of school, which has been said to be a tradition for at least 15 years. There are allegations a group of senior girls required a select group of freshmen girls to wear camouflage shirts on the first day of school.

During Monday's Board of Education meeting, the school board stated it wanted the high school administration, faculty and students to take sensitivity training. Additionally, it wants a plan on how to prevent the first-day-of-school hazing to continue.

Cahill's e-mail to parents follows:

ATTENTION ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS:

It has come to our attention that an email is being or has been sent to a number of Middle School students about wearing a specific color or type of clothing at a certain time.  Please know that this kind of message does not originate from, nor is condoned by, the Middle School.  Students can and will wear whatever they like, as long as it follows the dress code.  A student or group of students is not permitted to pressure others to wear certain types of clothes.  If any student confronts another student in any way about what he or she is wearing, or not wearing, please have your child let us know right away and we will deal with it... as we will with any issue you bring to us.

Michael Cahill
MMS Principal