In the Toronto Catholic District School Board, students may be removed from class if they are out of uniform, but is that the best punishment? While it is understood that the intent is to encourage compliance, education is not a reward; rather, it is a right.  

Specific rules, such as the opaqueness of tights or the length of a kilt, only impact female students. On dress-down days, standards such as no bare midriffs, tank tops, and fingertip rule for shorts and skirts also only apply to female students. These rules reinforce the hyper sexualization of female bodies and further send a message that the clothes a student is wearing are more important than their education. 

Enforcing uniform and dress code regulations are essential. However, the punishment should not be removing a student from class, especially when more often than not, the student is female. From a young age, society tells girls that their bodies are objects, and they are the reason for any unwanted attention or harassment they receive. While the enforcement of uniform is critical for students to take it seriously, consequences can take place outside of class time (ex: after school/ lunch detentions, getting infractions during lunch, etc.). Ultimately, removing a student, specifically a female student, from class enforces the belief that their education is less important than the clothes they are wearing.

TCDSB Uniform/ Dress code policy (refer to section G #10 for punishment for breaking dress code): https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/Policies/Pages/SS07.aspx