Tube tops, tight pants, ripped jeans, short skirts and even pajamas are now acceptable attire at Alameda city schools under a new dress code adopted by the school board over the summer break.

Heads covered by hoodies also are allowed as long as faces are visible, as are comfy yoga pants, sweats or soccer shorts — and if underwear is peeking out the top of waistbands, that’s fine too.

Students will now have nearly unfettered freedom to wear almost whatever they want as long as they have a top, bottom, shoes and “clothing that covers specific body parts (genitals, buttocks, and areolae/nipples) with opaque material,” according to the new policy.

Approved on a trial basis for this school year, the new dress code is among the most permissive in the Bay Area, leaving it largely up to students and families to decide if shorts are too short or tops are too revealing.

District officials said they expect teachers, parents and guardians to have a range of reactions once school starts and policy goes live. The school board will review feedback and consider in the spring whether changes need to be made, said spokeswoman Susan Davis.

“We’re still encouraging students to dress for an active school day,” said Rebecca Baumgartner, an English and history teacher at Lincoln Middle School, an adviser to the students who initiated the effort to change the old dress code. “We want kids and parents and guardians to be deciding what appropriate is.”

Parent Margo Dunlap said she anticipates there will be some adult backlash and kids who push the boundaries, but likes that the dress code originated from students.

“There’s an opportunity to listen to the young people,” said Dunlap, who has two daughters in the district, one in elementary school and the other in middle school. “They’re dressing in a way that’s comfortable for them.”

One of the students involved in the process, Kristen Wong, an incoming freshman at Alameda High, said the old policy was confusing and degrading, enforced arbitrarily by teachers and staff.

Kristen, 14, described an outfit she wore one day in the sixth grade: full-length jeans, a tank top with a scoop neck and a cardigan. An adult in the school office told her she couldn’t wear “that” again.

She was 12 and had no idea what was wrong with her clothing. She wasn’t showing cleavage, her shoulders were covered, she wasn’t wearing a too-short skirt, and her jeans had no rips or holes. She guessed her top was considered too revealing.

“I was a little bit upset at myself,” she said. “I thought it was kind of my fault that I chose that tank top.”

She was also ashamed.

Across the country, school districts — often at the urging of frustrated students — have been reconsidering dress codes, saying the policies unfairly target females and result in students missing important class time because their hemline is too high above their knees.

Alameda’s new dress code was modeled after a suggested policy created by the Oregon chapter of the National Organization for Women. Districts across the country, including Portland, Ore., and Evanston, Ill., have adopted similar wording.

The policy challenges the notion that girls should be responsible for ensuring that boys are not distracted by bare shoulders or a bra strap showing, said Lisa Frack, the organization’s past president.

“The girls articulated ... that they feel like the message they’re getting is that their bodies matter more than their education,” she added.

Frack said she was struck by an account by one middle school girl on the “pre” side of puberty who was called out for wearing her soccer shorts to school.

“Someone is telling her your leg isn’t for running, it’s for me to look at,” Frack said. “Other people’s sexual thoughts are being impressed on girls who are just wearing their soccer shorts and going to math.”

In Alameda, students told similar stories of being called out of class or shamed in front of other students for wearing a tank top with thin straps. District officials didn’t like what they heard.

“They really forced us — catalyzed us — to confront our own role in how students develop body image and what messages our dress code was implicitly or explicitly sending to students about sexuality and what was OK,” said Steven Fong, the district’s chief academic officer. “We’re not about policing students’ bodies.”

The old policy banned see-through or fishnet fabrics, halter tops, off-the-shoulder or low-cut tops, bare midriffs, and skirts or shorts shorter than mid-thigh. Gym clothes could be worn only during gym class.

It also stressed that clothing should not present a health or safety hazard or be a distraction that would interfere with “the educational process,” wording students said was vague and subject to inconsistent enforcement.

The district’s new policy “will no longer ask teachers and staff to subjectively judge or measure students’ bodies or clothing,” according to a district memo explaining the change.

The adopted dress code is simpler, boiled down to three categories: what students must wear, what they “may” wear and what they can’t wear.

Students may wear pajamas, ripped jeans, halter tops, fitted pants and athletic wear, and hats and hoodies over their heads, among other items.

Students cannot wear clothing that has violent language or images, hate speech, profanity or pornography. They also can’t wear bathing suits or have visible underwear, except for waistbands. Headgear can’t obscure their faces unless for religious reasons.

The three categories are a good system, said Henry Mills, 14, who advocated for the change in dress code. It’s clear and concise, he added.

“Before, kids were afraid to walk in the crosswalk because the crossing guard would say, ‘Hey, your shirt’s too short, hon,’” Henry said. “It was really unhealthy.”

What not to wear — a sampling from Bay Area school dress codes San Francisco Unified: “The type and style of clothing (except for schools with uniforms) and hairdo are individual and personal. The school shall be concerned only when these are extreme and could cause school distraction or disruption or be unsafe.” Examples: Inappropriate clothing includes garments where the torso is exposed, i.e., tube tops, half shirts, halters; garments where the entire thigh is exposed, such as micro minis or short shorts; cutoffs. Skyline High School, Oakland: “It is important that students dress in an acceptable manner that will not distract from the education experience of others.” Examples: Pants must be worn on the student’s waist at all times. Underwear/undergarments should not be visible. Short pants, skirts and dresses must be no more than 2 inches above the knee. Clothing that is not allowed: see-through clothing such as leggings; fishnet fabrics; halter tops; off-the-shoulder, low-cut tops; bare midriffs; lingerie; pajama bottoms/tops; and bedroom/house slippers. Sequoia High School, Redwood City: “The administration will monitor student dress at school and at school events. ... Students who are in violation of the dress code will be brought to the vice-principal’s office and ... will not be allowed in class until their clothing meets the guidelines of the Dress Code Policy.” Examples: All straps on blouses or tops must be at least 1 inch across; skirts, dresses or shorts must be as long as fingertips fully extended or reach mid-thigh; and no more than 3 inches of midriff visible when arms are at the sides. Albany High School, Albany: “Common sense and reasonable judgment should eliminate the need to correct students in the area of dress and personal appearance.” Examples: Shorts and skirts that are “too short, frayed, torn, or too tight” are not acceptable. Tops, boys’ or girls’, “must not be revealing as judged by school personnel.”

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Dress-code violators in many school districts in the Bay Area and elsewhere are required to change into a borrowed baggy sweatshirt or a white T-shirt before returning to class, a practice that labeled them with a scarlet letter, said Henry, who’s entering the ninth grade at Alameda High.

“Dress is between the students and parents,” he said. “It shouldn’t be something students are pulled out of class for and lose class time, because that was happening.”

In the meantime, a few days before the start of her first day of high school, newly minted ninth-grader Kristen said she hadn’t decided what to wear yet.

“Maybe shorts,” she said. “I’m not sure.”

But if she does wear shorts, she is sure about one thing: “No one will be measuring them.”

Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker