Andalusia City Schools decided not to pursue a uniform policy for the 2009-10 school year at its Monday meeting of the Board of Education.

ACS Superintendent Dr. Beverly McAnulty said Tuesday that the uniform committee, composed of representatives from all three schools and chaired by Andalusia High School principal Dr. Daniel Shakespeare, recommended against a uniform dress policy for the upcoming school year.

“Uniforms usually are used for three reasons,” she said. “Those are discipline, safety and academic improvement. The committee did not feel that we had a discipline or safety problem, and there is no real data that suggests there’s an academic boost when you institute uniforms.”

She added that the downturn of the economy also played a role in the system’s decision.

“The committee also said they felt the economy was putting a burden on families,” she said. “We did not want to saddle them with any extra burden by forcing them to pay for uniforms. So the issue is pretty much closed for now, although anything is possible in the future.”

Instead, the board voted to renew the standard 2008-09 dress code policy for the 2009-10 school year.

In other action, the board:

Approved a new diploma, the “advanced academic endorsement with honors.” This diploma requires passing all honors courses offered, including algebra II with trigonometry, pre-calculus, two credits of a foreign language and all five sections of the graduation exam.

McAnulty explained that AHS used to call this diploma its “advanced academic diploma,” but had to make a change when the state set its own criteria for an “advanced diploma.”

“We just needed something to distinguish our ‘advanced’ diploma from the state’s own standards, because our standards are a little higher,” McAnulty said.

Approved maternity leave for AHS special education/CAPE teacher Emily Pritchett, effective March 27 through May 29. Sharon Davis will replace her during that time period.

Recommended Kathy Chesser to serve as Andalusia Elementary School technology technician.

Recognized DECA winners, Bryant-Jordan Award winners and the AHS boys and girls basketball teams.