Last week a slide show presented in advisory classes outlined the Homecoming dress code for students. 

The slide show says men should wear button-up shirts, dress pants or khakis, dress shoes, a tie or bow-tie, or a vest. It says that women should “know their body type” and dress for comfort, and suggests that women wear short dresses to Homecoming, but Benning said that long dresses are totally allowed.

“The reason I even put a dress code into the PowerPoint was not to deter students from wearing certain things or feeling as though I’m targeting one gender over another,” Benning said. “We’re not trying to tell anybody what they can and can not wear, but just making sure that we’re following some guidelines.”

Benning created the slide show after hearing from a student that they thought they could wear a costume to the “Haunted Homecoming”-themed dance, even though she planned on not allowing costumes. Benning copied the guidelines from a 2017 opinion article published on the Niles West High School’s student-newspaper website, The Niles West News, which is located in Skokie, Ill.

“It’s a formal dance, not a Halloween party,” Benning said.