Parents are outraged over unfilled school uniform orders by an East Hartford company.
Many parents told NBC Connecticut they put in orders months ago and still have not received their kids’ uniforms.
More than a month into the school year Hartford parent Kristina Cotto said she’s already gone to Inchworm clothing five times.
“I ordered the uniforms back in August and I keep coming back and nothing,” Cotto said.
She said she hasn’t gotten a clear answer as to why the order is taking so long to fill.
“They still have explained to me yet. They’ve just been, yeah we’re going to get it, we’re backed up,” Cotto said.
Some Hartford parents say they’ve chosen to buy elsewhere.
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“We just had to get our money back,” Orlando Hernandez said.
But parents in East Hartford don’t have other choices. The schools only use Inchworm for uniforms. NBC Connecticut spoke with about a half dozen East Hartford parents who went in with order forms and came out with no uniforms.
“I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting. I was so upset with her right now; she said to come back tomorrow,” Pearlena Patrick said.
“I ordered in August, and I haven’t heard anything. My daughter is a freshman this year, but she’s wearing a middle school uniform,” Kami Splettstoeszer added.
The East Hartford School Superintendent’s Office is aware of the unfilled orders, and administrators are working to support families without uniforms by providing free ones or allowing students to be out of uniform.
NBC Connecticut called and emailed Inchworm’s owner for a statement, but has not yet heard back.
East Hartford school officials said they plan to meet with Inchworm this week, hoping to resolve the issue. See the full statement from the superintendent’s office below.
“We are aware that Inchworm has unfilled orders. While we are aware that parents do not have their orders, feedback we have collected from schools is that with limited exceptions, students are in uniform. While these uniforms may be from last year, our policy does not require parents to purchase new uniforms every year. Our school administration has done and continues to do an incredible job working to support any family that does not have a uniform by either giving them a free one (from stock that has built up over the years) or by simply allowing the student to be out of uniform. We understand and are equally disappointed to learn about the challenges our families are having with the vendor and are committed to working together with our families to resolve this issue both in the short and long term. We will be meeting with the vendor later this week.”
