Students Protest Dress Code At Ottawa School During 30 C Weather & One Got Arrested

During the week of May 9, when temperatures in Ottawa sat around 30 degrees C, students say they were pulled out of class to participate in a dress code blitz.

Students from École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges said that they were infuriated after teachers measured their clothing to see if their attire met the school’s dress code, according to CBC.

On the morning of May 13, high school students protested the dress code enforcement outside of the school.

The Ottawa Police Service arrived at the protest shortly after 11:30 a.m. after receiving three phone calls about the incident. During the protest, one student was arrested for causing a disturbance and trespassing.

Police said that no charges were laid and that the student was later released.

Videos of the teen’s arrest were shared across social media. As videos circulated, community members expressed their dismay with how the Ottawa Police Service handled the protestors.

One woman tweeted the video and said, “Ottawa Police once again NOT looking very ethical as they arrest high school KIDS who are protesting their school dress code.”

Ottawa councillor Jeff Leiper commended the students for walking out of school to protest. He said he disagreed with police taking physical control of the situation.

When asked about the police response, the Chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board, Eli El-Chantiry, told Narcity that the police were responding to public safety concerns that they received about students being on a roadway.

“The Police Service’s attendance at École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges was in response to repeated calls to police regarding public safety concerns around students being on a roadway and the dangerous situation this created with passing vehicles," El-Chantiry said in an email response.

"The dress code and actions of school staff are a separate issue from the police response.”

In a letter sent to the Ottawa Police Service Board, Ottawa’s interim police chief Steve Bell said that the teen who was arrested was asked five times to leave the property after being told not to cross the street.

“The calls from the school and a member of the public prompted a legitimate police response,” Bell wrote.

“Once on scene officers took appropriate actions to keep people safe, blocking roads and attempting to keep students and other youths off the roadway,” he added.

Since the incident, several community groups, including Horizon Ottawa, have criticized police intervention.