These High School Cheerleaders Were Told To Wear Sweatpants Under Their Cheer Uniforms

If you've gone to a high school in the U.S., you know that it's customary for athletes and cheerleaders to wear their uniforms to school on game day. Barring items that'll literally get in the way of learning (helmets, excessive pads, cleats), you show up in your uniform to demonstrate school pride. However, cheerleaders in northern Idaho are being asked to cover up their school-issued uniforms if they intend on doing just that. Reuters reports that, following teacher complaints, cheerleaders at Post Falls High School in northern Idaho were told their short skirts were "not suited for stairs or sitting without exposing the buttocks of teen girls," according to a local administrator. They can still wear their uniforms to school on game day, as they're accustomed to — they just have to wear leggings or "warm-up pants" underneath. The uniforms in question aren't new: According to a cheerleader interviewed by local news source KREM-TV, they've been wearing the same style for years. Their video segment includes images of the now-controversial uniform — a black pencil-fit miniskirt, the hem hitting slightly above the mid-thigh, with orange and white stripes running down the sides. Reuters notes that the general dress code for the school district says skirts should be "no shorter than mid-thigh," but that this directive "had not been strictly applied to cheerleaders." However, it appears this is the first time the short uniforms raised any concerns. Now, the district believes "these outfits are designed for cheering on the sidelines, and not for sitting in class or walking up stairs," reports KREM. There's something contradictory about a school telling students they can't wear their (previously) school-sanctioned uniforms — which were presumably provided to them by the school — to go to class because their school-sanctioned uniforms are inappropriate during school hours. On the sidelines, however, when the students are actually performing their acrobatic routines, the length of the skirts doesn't seem to matter at all.