By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
PITTSFIELD, Ill. -- Rachel Shonhart wants the Pikeland School District to come into the 21st century on its piercing policy.
Shonhart, the mom of a self-described Pittsfield "family of piercings" says the existing policy interferes with her children's self-expression and the increasingly common practice.
The school district says its policy, which allows body piercings but no jewelry in them, creates a good learning environment for all students -- without the distraction provided by piercings.
"We look at those policies every year. We get input from parents," Superintendent Paula Hawley said. "Those are guidelines set for Pikeland school based on the community to provide an environment conducive for learning for our students."
Hawley said the policy should be no surprise to Shonhart or other parents.
"She was aware of the rule. It's been in the handbooks," Hawley said. "This isn't new to her."
But Shonhart said she just found out at registration this week that the district won't allow students to wear what's known as spacers or retainers, instead of jewelry, to keep piercings from closing during the school day. The district allowed spacers at the start of last year in an effort to find a middle ground on piercings and jewelry, but after the spacers kept growing in size, "we've gone back to no spacers," Pittsfield High School Principal Angie Greger said.
Shonhart said she's already contacted the ACLU, which has taken similar cases to court in other states, and will talk with them again after meeting with the School Board.
"I'd like to see us reach a compromise," Shonhart said, but for her children, "I'm willing to take it all the way."
Shonhart and her family --including children ages 15, 13 and 9 -- moved to Pittsfield three years ago from the Chicago area. The family believes in body modification like piercings and tattoos and uses the possibility of getting them as a motivation for good behavior and earning good grades. Her son has a snakebite, or lower lip piercings, and another child wants a nose ring, but under the district policy, students either remove all jewelry from piercings during the school day or risk suspension.
"I understand it being a safety issue when you're involved in sports," Shonhart said, but she doesn't understand why the rubber spacers also are an issue.
District policy does allow slave gauging, or earlobe stretching, which Shonhart said is "more dangerous than a nose ring or a lip ring," and traditional jewelry.
"How is a lip ring more distracting than a giant earring or a big bracelet?" Shonhart said.
Shonhart said she "paid a lot of money" for the piercings. Hawley said she urges parents to review and understand district policy before making such an investment.
"We feel we've done what we need to do to make sure people are aware," Hawley said.
-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
