GATEWAY, Fla. — Gateway High School has changed its dress code for students due to record high temperatures.

Over the summer the school decided to ban shorts entirely, which caused outrage from parents. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Gateway High School bans shorts in new dress code policy

Nitza Morales is the mother of a freshman at Gateway High School. She made a petition against the dress code that banned shorts, and over 1400 people signed it.

Now the school changed its dress code again, but not because of the petition. They said it’s because of the record-high temperatures.

An email sent to parents read, “Due to the record high temperature, we are permitting shorts; however, they MUST be extended to the knee. Please visit our website for our complete dress code.”

Parents are relieved and hope it doesn’t change anytime soon.

“It’s too hot for these kids to be wearing long pants, even when it gets cold, it’s still not cold,” Morales said.

Terra Flom said the school needs to fix its air conditioning.

“The school today during open house was quite warm so I can see where the kids can have an issue with it being hot,” Flom said. “Some of the areas were nice and cool and some of the areas were extremely hot.”

The Lee County School District said the principal decided to change the dress code earlier this summer, stating too many students were violating the school’s dress code last year, taking valuable time away from the classroom.

“Too many students were violating the school’s dress code last year requiring shorts must be at the knee and taking valuable time away from the classroom. The change is not unusual nor unprecedented as Fort Myers High School has not allowed shorts since the 1990s.,” said the Lee County School District.

NBC2 reached out to the Lee County School District to find out how long students will be allowed to wear shorts. A spokesperson said it’s up to the principal to determine if the dress code will change and when.