Sydney high school is taking backlashes from parent for their decision to ban her Year 10 students graduating because they wear fake nails.
The students from Mackellar Girls Campus are denied access into the graduation hall and rather hold them in separate room.
The seventy students missed out on the graduation ceremony because they break the school’s dress code.
This incident left parents of barred students furiously left the ceremony to their places of work because of time wasting as a result of the disciplinary measures going on.
The school authority has also been accused of ‘double standard’ since the female teachers wear fake and colorful nails.
Reacting to the viral news, the president of the local school district has termed the ban ‘completely unjustified’ and will be taking the matter up with Australia’s Department of Education.
‘As far as we’re concerned, the school and the Department don’t have the powers to exclude those students because they had long fingernails.
‘The District Council will be in contact with the school P&C and will be taking this matter up with the Department of Education and the Education Minister,’ the President said.
‘No one had any idea where they [the barred students] were and the assembly started an hour later because they were disciplining the girls because of the nails.
‘Majority of the girls were also attending another formal on the day after their graduation, so it didn’t make sense for them to get their fake nails removed,’ a mother of a barred student vented.
Another mother whose daughter is also barred fault the school management of acting wicked, since some of the students wear the nails four days already to the ceremony, yet the school didn’t speak against it until graduation day.
‘Absolutely disgusting behaviour for a publicly-funded local government school to deny parents the opportunity to see their daughters graduate and receive awards,’ the woman said.
‘It seems they were clear nails anyway! Not bloody red or hot pink! I would be livid! After all they have been through the last few years. It’s just nasty in my opinion.’
However, a spokesperson for the Department stood by the school’s management.
‘We understand some students and parents are upset by the decision of the school, however all Mackellar Girls students and parents were given written and verbal advice on the expectations around uniform and behaviour on multiple occasions since the start of the school year,’ he said.
‘This included specific advice to students and parents that acrylic nails were not acceptable at school and in particular for the Year 10 assembly.’
The spokesperson confirmed that only 20 of 239 Year 10 students at the school was not given their portfolio on stage due to their acrylic nails, not that they were not in the hall for the assembly.
