Students Protest After San Diego Catholic High School Bans Skirts

SAN DIEGO -- A private Catholic high school in San Diego's Carmel Valley neighborhood has banned skirts from its dress code, and students held a peaceful protest against the decision Tuesday morning, according to a local TV news station.

The decision came after Cathedral Catholic High School had issued "thousands" of hours of detention to students who had been modifying the length of uniform skirts, TV station NBC7 reported.

Students at Cathedral Catholic High School learned about the new rules in an email sent to parents and students from Principal Kevin Calkins on Friday, according to the TV news report.

In his email, Calkins wrote that the dress code exists to foster a faith-based environment where students are focused on learning and not outward appearances.

``Male faculty feel uncomfortable addressing female students about the length of their skirts, even female faculty have expressed frustration with the ongoing challenge of dress code,'' Calkins wrote.

Female students will be allowed to wear pants, Capri pants or Bermuda shorts. Male students have the option of wearing pants or shorts, according to the email.

Before the ban, female students were allowed to wear skirts that were not excessively tight or form fitting and that were no shorter than 3 inches from the top of the kneecap while standing upright, according to the school's dress code.

In response to the ban, the students created a petition on change.org and as of Tuesday morning, nearly 2,700 people had signed the petition.

Students also planned a peaceful protest for 7:15 a.m. Tuesday in front of the school.

Cathedral Catholic High School serves about 1,600 students in grades 9-12. The school charges an annual tuition of $18,500.

City News Service contributed to this report.