Since students started the 2017-18 school year, an issue has come up concerning an already-existing policy at Powell High School. Students who wear hats must take them off once they enter the building.

The school policy, which is listed in the student handbook, states: “Caps and hats shall be removed upon entering the building in accordance with basic good manners.” A new addition has been added to it; staff will be able to take away hats for a certain amount of days as they deem necessary. This policy has struck a nerve in students this year. Some students think it is wrong to change the policy.

“I think that the teacher should decide if you can wear hats,” said Ben Jackson Jr., a senior a Powell High School. “Not the principal or the school. If there were only 2-3 teachers that didn’t allow hats, I don’t think there would be a problem.”

Principal Mr. Jim Kuhn delved deeper in this situation with more detail to as to why the policy keeps changing.

“I think last year, I just didn’t do a very good job of enforcing the policy, and as the year went along, there were more and more hats that started to pop up, and so I thought it’s a rule that we have, and is something that the school board decided on a number of years ago,” Mr. Kuhn said. “if we’re going have the rule, then we need to enforce it.”

One teacher said the hat policy touches on a number of topics.

“It’s a mixed bag, depending on who you’re around,” said Mr. Troy Hildebrand, a math teacher and coach at Powell High School. “Most of the time, I just have people take it off.

“Mr. Kuhn is collecting them, and putting them up like beaver skin rugs. Some teachers kinda don’t have anything. We have to be a little more consistent to make it a real strong rule in our school.”

During the 2016-17 school year, there was an exception to the hat rule: During dress-up weeks such as Homecoming, students generally were permitted to wear hats.