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Doyle said she was patient, but challenged her vice-principal and teacher on the policy.

“If they didn’t really want to see my bra straps I didn’t have to wear a bra at all,” Doyle said.

As she learned about the policy, which states that shirts with spaghetti straps are banned and undergarments are not allowed to be visible, she missed the first 15 minutes of her class.

“I don’t think there should be a line anywhere, but a lot of people disagree with me,” Doyle said. “I know there has to be a line drawn somewhere, but I feel that where it is drawn right now is not appropriate.”

In a letter to parents, school principal Jennifer Offord wrote that she’s open to discussing the dress code with anyone who has concerns.

“I hope you know that if you have any concerns regarding the implementation or practice of the dress code policy at Fisher Park Public School you can bring your concerns to me and we will discuss them,” Offord wrote.

Sharlene Hunter, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, said the school’s dress code policy is reviewed every year by the principal in consultation with the school council.

“This isn’t a one-person decision,” Hunter said.

Andrea Stokes, Doyle’s mother, defended her daughter and said her outfit was not “provocative.”

Stokes said she takes issue with the wording of the school’s dress code that lists “appropriate” ways to dress, which she says is up for interpretation. The school’s policy is also sexist, Stokes says.

“I allowed her to go to school with her bra straps showing because it’s a rule I was willing to break,” Stokes said. “There’s nothing about it that is offensive. I don’t want my daughter to feel shamed for the fact that her bra strap shows.”

A friend of the family emailed the school board to offer her services for professional development.

mhurley@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/meghan_hurley