The French Catholic School Board in Ottawa says the way the local high school dress code was imposed this week is unacceptable.
Mark Bertrand, director of education at the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Center-Est (CECCE), said in a letter to families on Saturday that board members met with students and teachers at Beatrice Delog High School on Friday after reports that several students , mostly girls, were subjected to a dress code check along the length of their shorts.
“School board officials arrived at the school early Friday morning to spend the day there and meet with several interested students and staff to shed light on the situation,” the letter said in French.
Bertrand said an investigation had found that school management and some staff members had carried out a flash dress code and that an unspecified number of students, most of them women, had been called into the corridors.
“Some students were asked to bend their legs back at the knee while standing to check that the shorts they were wearing matched the dress code,” Bertrand said.
He said no student was asked to bend over, nor was any student’s clothing measured with a ruler, as described in some versions of events circulating online, but he acknowledged that many students felt humiliated and humiliated.
“This dress code verification strategy is not encouraged by the CECCE and is not acceptable,” Bertrand wrote. “All students must be treated with dignity and respect. No student should be subjected to such an examination of their clothing, much less challenged by their peers. Unfortunately, the strategy implemented by the school last Thursday does not reflect these values, which are very expensive for CECCE. “
The council is responsible for the police response
Beatrice-Desloges students staged a protest Friday afternoon. Police arrived during the event and a video shows a police officer pushing a boy against a cruiser. Police said one man was arrested but released without being charged or charged.
Bertrand said police were called to ensure safety as some students moved into the street, stopping traffic. At one point, a small group of students from another school board arrived by car, circled dangerously in the crowd and did not cooperate, Bertrand said, at which point police intervened. None of the Beatrice-Delog students have been arrested.
The protest ended at 12:45 and the students returned to their studies.
“The administration of the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Center-Est sincerely regrets this result and wishes to apologize to the students and families who were concerned about these events,” Bertrand said. “We are currently following up on all CECCE schools to ensure that this does not happen again.”
Bretran said head of education Jason Dupuis would be at the school on Monday to track all interested students or their parents.
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