Authorities were forced to intervene at a Texas high school to subdue a riot that broke out after some 170 students were suspended for violating the dress code.
Students at Duncanville High School rushed the hallways and threw items like food and a trash can after school authorities issued the suspensions on Wednesday, according to cellphone videos obtained by NBC DFW.
Authorities sent home the nearly 170 students after they were found in violation of the school's dress code, including large belt buckles, different colored jackets, piercings and untucked shirts, the station reported.
One junior was suspended for having stubble on his chin.
"This is what my student got suspended for," the student's mother, Angela Salerno, told NBC DFW. "He just didn't shave for one day and this hair stubble is what his suspension letter said. That's ridiculous."
Other students who violated the dress code received in-school suspension. Parents and students told myfoxdfw the school strictly enforced the dress code at the beginning of the year, but eventually let students get away with wearing things like jackets with logos or wearing pants without belts.
On Wednesday morning the students were individually inspected and suspended if they were not dressed properly, sources told myfoxdfw.
"We want to teach them that they must meet the expectations not only here in school but outside of school as well," Andre Smith, the school's principle, told the station.
No students were arrested after police arrived at the high school. Those who were able to alter their appearance in accordance to the dress code were allowed to return to class. But others were upset at the school for cracking down on them so close to the end of the school year.
"I didn't have a problem with taking out my nose ring, that's not the problem," Shania Hornsby, a senior, told NBC DFW. "The problem is why you didn't enforce this all school year?"
The 170 suspended students were allowed to return to school on Thursday.
