Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN -- At least one teacher is crying foul over a new Ogden School District dress code that bans visible tattoos.
Mark Johnson has worked at Ogden High School for 15 years and tells the Standard-Examiner he's never had a complaint. Instead, he says his tattoos -- one of which is a tribute on his right forearm to his wife and children -- are conversation starters and get his students to think.
"Covering up, to me, is burying and keeping the stigma of tattooed people alive," Johnson told the paper.
Johnson says he has covered up since a disciplinary action was launched against him. Efforts by KSL to reach Johnson Monday morning were unsuccessful.
"The dress code that the Ogden School District has implemented has to do with raising the bar of professional dress," district spokeswoman Donna Corby told KSL Newsradio Monday.
The visible tattoo ban is part of that larger dress code adopted in January. Among the rules, men must wear collared shirts. T-shirts are outlawed among faculty.
"We're not asking women to be in dresses and heels and we're not asking men to be in ties, but to dress appropriately for the role that they play," Corby said.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
