Fla. cheerleaders exempted from dress code

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A Florida high school district's dress code exempts cheerleaders, who will be allowed to wear their revealing short skirts to class on game day, officials said.

The allowance is part of a tough new dress code at Seminole County schools intended to make students look more "professional," the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.

High school principals met at the start of football season and agreed to exempt cheerleaders from the new rules, which say "dresses, skirts and shorts must be at least mid-thigh or below in length" and nixes clothing that is "sexually suggestive."

"It is tradition that they wear their uniforms on game day, like the football players wear their uniform shirts," said district spokeswoman Regina Klaers, a former cheerleader at Seminole High.

Klaers said the mother of a Lake Brantley High girl sent home for wearing a short skirt complained that cheerleaders were getting privileged treatment.

But the new dress code provides that principals make final decisions on what apparel meets the rules, Klaers said.

Some other exemptions to the code are anticipated, she said.

For example, Klaers said, schools sometimes have a "pajama day" to build school spirit. Pajamas are specifically banned as everyday wear under the new dress code.