Several hundred students gathered outside an Ottawa Catholic high school on Friday to protest a mass dress code enforcement the day before.
The effort by staff at Béatrice-Desloges high school in Orléans outraged students, who said the action was unjust and seemed to target female students.
“I’m frustrated,” said Melisande Ouellette, a 17-year-old student in Grade 11 at the school.
Ouellette said she was in math class Thursday morning when the school’s principal Marie-Claude Veilleux arrived to enforce the dress code. Ouellette said Veilleux asked all the girls to stand up, and told Ouellette the length of her shorts de ella was “inappropriate.”
“It was really embarrassing getting up in front of everyone and walking out just because I was wearing jean shorts.”
Ouellette said she was sent to the office to wait until someone could bring her different clothes.
“[Staff] came into every class, knocked on every door and told the girls ‘stand up,’ ” Ouellette said.
Reece Bloodworth, another 17-year-old student, said more than 100 students were pulled out of class on Thursday.
She said some girls who were sent home to change had their cellphones confiscated so they would return to school.
“It’s just absolutely ridiculous and inappropriate and hurtful honestly,” Bloodworth said.
“We were just trying to learn and we got disrupted.”
Students gathered outside the school to protest just after 11 am on Friday.
Ottawa police said they were called to the school at about 11:30 am One person was arrested at the scene for trespassing but no charges were laid. They say the person arrested is not a student at the school. The protest ended before 1 pm on Friday.
The school dress code states students must wear “clean, decent and appropriate” clothing. It states shorts and skirts must be midthigh, and muscle shirts and crop tops may not be worn.
Temperatures in Ottawa reached 30.5 C on Thursday, the hottest day the city has seen so far this year, data from Environment Canada shows. Ouellette said several male students wearing tank tops were not asked to change, and were not subject to the same public dress code examination.
A spokesperson for the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE), Ontario’s largest French-English school board, said in an email that they initiated a process to revise the school dress codes in order to make them non-gendered and non- discriminatory last November.
“This collaborative exercise allows the Board and its schools to consider the issues and concerns related to the current or recommended dress code.”
They also said education superintendent Jason Dupuis and human resources executive director Laurie-Eve Bergeron met with staff and students on Friday to discuss the incidents.
“The administration is taking very seriously the complaints and allegations received regarding the approach taken yesterday,” a spokesperson for the board said in the email.
School principal Veilleux could not be reached for comment.
The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) requires all students to wear a uniform.
A spokesperson for the Toronto board said in an email that the school’s current dress reflects the mission of the board, providing a safe and welcoming learning environment.
“All TCDSB elementary schools have a dress code consisting of any combination of white and navy-blue garments. The enforcement of local Dress Codes is the responsibility of the principal.”
With files from Isabel Teotonio.
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