Amid a late summer heatwave in Israel, 12th graders in the town of Shoham were refused entrance to their school after arriving in shorts deemed to have broken the school's dress code, Ynet reported.
One female student claimed that when she was made to change her shorts upon her arrival to school, she was refused to change on school property and was instead made to change in the bushes outside.
"When I said that I had a change of pants in my bag, they wouldn't allow me to change in the school bathrooms. It's not nice to have change in the bushes where the whole community sees you, so after a while, we just went home," said the student, M. after the incident took place on the first day of school.
Another 12th grader, who arrived later that the other student because she's in a different coronavirus learning capsule, said a similar thing happened to her.
"They told me my pants were disrespectful, so I just left. I don't know if there were any girls who changed their pants in the bushes, but I very much hope that there were no girls who lowered their honor like that. It is absurd that this is what is happening in 2020," said the second student, Daphne Yonah.
While the school agreed that students were sent home for having broken the dress code, it added that "the claim that they were sent to change their clothes in the bushes is unfounded."
The regional council also rejected any claim that students made to change in the bushes however, they criticized the school for focusing on the the length of the students' pants and not on more important matters.
"School is a place that should be engaged in education and maintaining the health of students, not the length of pants. We are living in an age it would be best that there is no need for such a discussion at all. - This message was conveyed to all the schools in Shoham."The council noted that not only female students were sent home but also male students for having broken the dress code.A father of other students at the high said that 12 graders arriving on the first day of school having intentionally broken the dress code is a phenomenon that occurs every year.
"Twelfth graders come to show that this is their last year, and purposefully break the rules. Boys intentionally come with torn shirts and girls with too short shorts, contrary to the dress code," he said.