PAULS VALLEY, Okla. (KFOR) — Two parents are upset after their child was pulled out of class for a dress-code violation they believe shouldn’t have been an issue.

This took place at Pauls Valley Junior High with their 7th grader.

Max and Erica Duarte want to make something clear—they are not attacking the school or anyone within the school. However, they say the dress code policy is a one-size-fits all model, which doesn’t fit everyone.

“I’ve tried to instill in my children the importance of feeling confident in who they are and that they’re more than their weight or their height or anything else,” Erica said. “So when policies are put into place that don’t fit a one size all because, you know her peers, she’s a good at least seven inches taller than her peers.”

An upset mother, trying to find answers on why this outfit was deemed inappropriate for school.

“It is hard,” Erica said. “It’s hard enough and we had searched all summer trying to find shorts. We had found a pair of shorts. We were so thrilled.”

Only to learn that her daughter could no longer wear those shorts to school.

“Going through that age, starting her first year of junior high, battling with things that she already has to, that just amplifies that; that telling her that because your body doesn’t fit the average mold, that it’s not okay for you,” Erica said.

“I was like, what I am wearing was very appropriate and I wasn’t showing anything,” Araya said.

Araya was pulled from class for almost two hours.

“She had to be pulled out three different times that day over this situation,” Erica said. “How does that not affect and disrupt her education.”

“It was kind of disruptive because, you know, you have kids that are like, oh, you got dress coded,” Araya said.

While the parents are now working toward change within the dress code policy, they want to make something clear.

“We don’t condone extreme outfits,” Max said. “We’re not out there to say, you know, let them wear whatever they want.”

However, they do believe the current policy should be altered based on height and weight.

“And to address the discrepancies and inadequacies that do not take in consideration that there are different body types, shapes and heights,” Erica said.

Max and Erica have filed with the superintendents office to address this issue at the next school board meeting which is September 13. We reached out to superintendent Adam McPhail for an interview but he declined. However, he did give us this statement:

“The current dress code policy was developed in 2021 with input from a student committee. This is my first year at Pauls Valley; however, I understand it is less restrictive than the one previously observed. 

I believe a district’s dress code should promote a safe and productive learning environment, without being unnecessarily prohibitive or causing students to needlessly miss valuable instructional time.

We are currently monitoring the situation, and in the future, if the policy needs to be revised, we will gather additional feedback, research a new approach, and make whatever changes are needed to best serve the students of Pauls Valley Public Schools.”