• Lacey Henry launched a petition against Cumberland County Schools in Fayetteville, North Carolina, over its graduation dress code rules.
  • Henry said the dress code required girls to wear black dresses, black closed-toe shoes with black heels, and black stockings to graduation.
  • After hundreds of people signed the petition, the district said graduation attire policies will follow Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause and allow girls to wear black slacks.

A North Carolina school district is changing its dress code after a high school senior started a petition asking for female students to be allowed to wear pants to graduation.

Lacey Henry, an 18-year-old student at Cumberland Polytechnic High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, launched a Change.org petition after learning her school required girls to wear black dresses, black closed-toe shoes with black heels, and black stockings to graduation, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

The rules aren’t detailed on the district website, which instead says: “Appropriate attire for graduation practices and the ceremony will be established at the school level.”

After hundreds of people signed Henry’s petition, the school said its dress code would allow all students the option of wearing black dress slacks.

"It's kind of insane - no one can see what's under our graduation robes anyway," Henry told Yahoo Lifestyle.

Read more: 18 times students and parents said school dress codes went too far

Lindsay Whitley, a spokeswoman for the district, told the Fayetteville Observer that policies about attire for graduation ceremonies are established by the school, not the district.

"We have reminded principals that school-level graduation guidelines will not require students to conform to a specific type of attire based on their gender, and they will be fully compliant with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause," Whitley said.

Title IX protects people from sex-based discrimination in educational settings and when receiving federal financial assistance.

The Equal Protection Clause, which is part of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment, states that governing bodies must treat all individuals equally.