Avoyelles Parish is the only Louisiana parish requiring expensive school logos on public school uniforms. It is an unnecessary expense for parents and it's unclear what benefit the policy carries. I am interested in streamlining the uniform policy to make it more cost effective, like many other parish policies already have in place. In terms of security, I argue that surrounding parishes manage to keep their schools secure without requiring logos on uniforms. There are at least six elementary schools within Avoyelles Parish, each with a different logo. So if a family moves from one town to another it often means they must purchase different uniforms, often the same color, but with a different logo. It also seems to have created a bit of a monopoly among a choice few local businesses who are permitted to sell the logos. In my experience it is 'frowned upon' for smaller (I.e. In-home) embroidery or screen printing businesses to get the template and/or publicly advertise that they do, in fact, sell public school logos. Why is the profit being funneled into the pockets of a select few businesses? My previous point brings me to the quality of aforementioned logos being provided by these 'approved' businesses. Essentially, they have us parents by the purse strings, charging more than what the shirts cost & slapping poor quality logos on them. The screen prints are less expensive, but they can't be dried! If they are dried the screen print peels off & fades. The embroidered logos that I had sewn on at a local 'approved' business was sloppy and puckered the shirts. Once enough signatures have been obtained to prompt interest by the Avoyelles Parish school board, I intend to follow up by addressing them directly at a meeting. This is obviously not going to change anything for the 2015-2016 school year. It's also not going to change with just one person. It's a small thing, but it's definitely a policy that isn't in line with the Louisiana state norms. Hopefully we can get this policy changed and save parents a little money in the school years to come. -Jessica Ricaud
