Frisco Independent School District has a belief system. Within this system, there are a few principles listed regarding the goals of the district. Occasionally, there are students who seem to find difficulty within FISD’s procedures, one of which being the policy on hats and how they are to not be worn within the building.

This adamant policy regarding the dismissal of hats worn in the school building is reasonable. The district has the right to enforce this procedure and the outcome of such is more positive than otherwise. 

As a public-school district, it is FISD’s job to keep their students safe, the main reason why hats are not allowed is due to safety concerns. These concerns are rightfully placed when a school could easily have a safety issue due to the lack of identification of possible threats to students within a building. Hats prevent others from identifying whether or not the wearer of such attire is permitted to be on campus. 

“Sunglasses, caps, hats, raised hoods, and any other covering that can conceal the face from clear view is not permitted to be worn in the building,” says FISD

It’s not just schools that deny the hats in their buildings, common workplaces do too. In a workplace, as it is seen as unprofessional to wear a hat in the building, while they do want their workers to feel somewhat comfortable, wearing a hat is just too casual and you are unlikely to be taken seriously wearing a beanie or a baseball cap during a meeting or at your desk.

“Hats are not appropriate in the office,” says Susan Heathfield, Human Resources writer for The Balance Careers “Headcovers that are required for religious purposes or to honor cultural tradition are allowed.” 

Another reason one would believe hats do not belong in the building is due to their ability to become distractions. You’ll see a lot of teachers use this reason to explain why hats should stay off at school, and it makes sense because it’s true. Whether or not you notice or believe it, students have short attention spans and are easily distracted. Having a hat with some funky shape to it or some cool logo on it creates room for conversations, and while that can be a good thing outside of school, in the building it’s a nuisance for teachers and students trying to concentrate.

“…for one semester, the school allowed everyone to wear any kind of hat they wanted. ” says Gilbert Mark, an interviewee for the Washington Post  “But this was a disaster because boys would march into class with baseball caps facing front. Then they’d spend the entire class taking off the caps, putting them on backward, pulling the bills down over their foreheads, fiddling with the bills, fiddling with the clasps in the back, doing everything except what they should have been doing.” 

As a hat wearer myself I can say that hats are useful as a hiding mechanism for bad hair, a way to show your support to a company or a cause, or even just as an accessory, but there are a time and place for them and neither of which are in the school building. Hats in school are unsafe, unprofessional, and unsettling to the work/school environment no matter how you put it.

Instead, you can wait for a permitted hat day, or until after school when you’re out of the building to wear that cool hat you want to show off. And if your hair really looks that bad, take some time during the day to go to the bathroom and fix it.

In conclusion, at Frisco ISD, the safety of students and faculty, and the optimization of the learning/work environment comes first. The convenience of wearing a hat just because you feel like it really isn’t as important as it seems.