Revere High School, through a letter to all families and through several announcements to students, has revised and reiterated a dress code for attendees at athletic events.

RHS Principal Phil King stated that administrators — he, Superintendent Matthew Montgomery, and Athletic Director Tom McKinnon — reviewed the policy in response to complaints from parents.

“We had some big complaints, and I wanted to make sure that we were addressing that. We wanted to make sure that we made some changes of which our student body would be proud and that our school would be proud of the way we portray our school at football games[,] soccer games, etc. so we needed to make a change and did,” King said.

According to Montgomery, the new policy will ultimately benefit the student body and athletic community.

“Students [coming] out to support their peers is very important to the culture we are trying to create here at Revere . . . . The reminder of how we can represent ourselves in a positive way impacts the culture, because we are holding ourselves to high standards . . . . We want to show enthusiasm, but we still want to have a high level of decorum,” Montgomery said.

The dress code more explicitly prohibits shirtlessness.

“Ladies need to have shirts on. Boys need to have shirts on,” King said.

Montgomery believes that the changes will improve the environment at sporting events and encourage the student body’s enthusiasm.

“I think the biggest thing is that the changes that were presented were with the best intentions and were in no way meant to discourage the support of fellow students. We did not want to curb that,” Montgomery said.

The administration sent all Revere families a letter, signed by King, McKinnon, and Revere Middle School principal Bill Conley, which detailed the revised policy.

“Students are expected to project an image of positive support for our team. Singling out students from other schools or taunting the other team is not sportsman-like behavior and will not be tolerated . . . . Students are to dress and be covered appropriately – bare-chested boys or girls in sports bras, etc., are not appropriate,” according to the letter.

Administrators have taken these measures in hopes of providing a more definite set of rules for conduct at athletic events than had existed previously and has also designated a group of students to manage and lead the student section.

See ‘Students provide input for student section improvement’