THERE WAS outrage at the Presentation College secondary school in Askea yesterday (Monday) when a number of girls were sent home for wearing their skirts too short.

Parents were annoyed when daughters arrived home on orders from school principal Ray Murray as their skirts conform to school regulations. For some of the girls, it was their fourth time to be sent home this year.

Mr Murray pointed out that school rules state that all skirts must be worn at the knee, and added that no student should have to have this pointed out to them more than once.

'Surely if a student is sent home once, that should be enough from a parent's point of view,' he said.

Parents and students still thought the rules were being applied far too strictly, however.

One parent said she was particular angry as she had borrowed a new skirt for her daughter following earlier problems with her uniform.

‘I am a single parent and I can’t buy a new skirt. I did manage to borrow one but she was still sent home,’ she said. ‘It is just an inch above her knee. I don’t see a problem with it.

‘She’s in Junior Cert year and she shouldn’t be missing out on school time over this,’ she added.

One mother said she refuses to alter her daughter’s skirt.

‘I was told to stick a lump of material on top of the skirt,’ she added. ‘Young people face enough bullying as it is. I’m not going to do this to my daughter.’

Another parent voiced her anger at the situation and said she couldn’t understand why her daughter was sent home.

‘After the last time I altered her skirt and yet she was still sent home again,’ said the irate mother. ‘Honestly, it’s just an inch above her knee. I’m sure there are plenty of girls there a lot worse.’

School principal Mr Murray confirmed that five students were sent home yesterday for the offence.

‘Some of the parents called in to me in the afternoon and there was no issue at that stage. They understood that it is school policy,’ he said.

- Lynda CONNOLLY