British schoolboys don skirts amid shorts ban in heatwave


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LONDON (AP) — Boys at a British high school have found a novel way around strict uniform rules banning shorts, as the country swelters through a heatwave.

The schoolboys at Isca Academy in the southwestern city of Exeter donned skirts instead of the officially mandated gray slacks.

Photos in British media show the boys wearing short-sleeved white shirts, school ties and the gray and white plaid skirts that the girls wear.

Devon County Council spokesman David Beasley said about 30 boys turned up to school in skirts on Thursday, when temperatures dropped to a cool 20 degrees Celsius (68F) after days of much hotter weather. None of the skirted students was punished, he said.

The school's head teacher, Aimee Mitchell, issued a written statement that did not mention the skirts, but pledged to revisit the uniform rules.

"We recognize that the last few days have been exceptionally hot and we are doing our utmost to enable both students and staff to remain as comfortable as possible," she wrote.

"Shorts are not currently part of our uniform for boys and I would not want to make any changes without consulting both students and their families. However, with hotter weather becoming more normal, I would be happy to consider a change for the future," she added.

The British students were not alone in challenging dress codes as a way of cooling down.

In the western French city of Nantes, male bus drivers reportedly wore skirts this week that are part of female drivers' uniform to protest the fact that they were not allowed to wear shorts.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Features stories

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast