For now, the cheerleaders’ spirit may echo in the stands more than the hallways — but it will not be silenced.

At Bullitt East High School, cheerleaders are known for bringing spirit to games, pep rallies, and other school events. But this year, a new policy has changed one of their long-standing traditions: wearing cheer uniforms during the school day.

The rule prohibits cheerleaders from wearing their uniforms to school except for official sporting events. Many cheerleaders are left disappointed by this.

Allegedly, the decision comes from concerns about dress code consistency. Senior cheerleader Kaleigh Kaufman explained: “I think it was enforced because teachers think our skirts are too short and not appropriate to wear in a classroom setting. My sophomore year, we wore our uniforms a couple of times, and we got told they were too short and not school-appropriate.”

Although the policy is about dress code consistency, cheerleaders argue that the enforcement feels unfair. Kaufman said the policy creates a double standard, noting that other students wear spandex, crop tops, and tank tops that are “just as revealing, if not more so, than our uniforms.”

“It doesn’t make sense that we were allowed to wear our uniforms to games in front of the school and our community, but were not allowed to show school spirit for game days or prep rallies because teachers don’t like our uniforms,” Kaufman said.

The rule has disrupted long-standing traditions and altered how the team expresses pride. Football players, for example, are still allowed to wear their jerseys before games. 

“Wearing uniforms on game days is a tradition that builds pride and excitement, and many of us feel disappointed that we are unable to participate in that,” Kaufman said.

However, to adapt, cheerleaders now do something different. “As of right now, for game days we normally switch between doing something called fancy friday which is wear you wear church appropriate clothing to make you look nicer and more professional at school or we all match wearing jeans and a matching cheer shirt and our matching shoes to unify that were a team and that were trying to show our pride in some way,” Kaufman said.

For many on the team, the issue goes beyond clothing. Kaufman explained that not being able to wear uniforms makes it harder to be recognized as part of the school’s spirit culture.

“I would just say it’s very frustrating because us competitive cheerleaders are not recognized for what we really do outside of school functions. We’re only seen at games which do not showcase our strong skills and talents. So when we try to make a bigger impact in our community and make people see us getting involved more and it’s very frustrating when we try and do this throughout school and our community and we get backlash for it,” Kaufman said.

Cheerleaders hope for a compromise that would allow them to wear uniforms during school on certain game days to help foster school spirit.

At its core, the debate over uniforms is about balancing consistency in school rules with traditions that fuel pride and community. While the administration has stressed fairness, many cheerleaders feel a piece of school spirit has been lost.