The alarm rings and is immediately slammed shut by the bedside.  Students groggily rise and shuffle through their messy drawers in search of a piece of attire.  Some will get them through the day without judgements or stares, while some take the flashier route.  And some, like the class of 2014 girls, have had to make the hard decision whether to wear their “senior girls shirt” to school or not.

The difficulty of this decision is written in the Piedmont High School Student and Parent Handbook, which unknown to many students, places restrictions and guidelines on students’ attire everyday.

So the decision: to wear it, or not to?

Two years ago, PHS experienced a flurry of administrative action as the senior class T-shirt and succeeding school rally were shut down due to a sexually suggestive remark printed on the back of the shirt.

“Everybody acknowledged that it was wrong,” ASB president senior Cole Becker said. “Despite the vulgarity, everyone was upset that it wouldn’t be distributed among the seniors.”

Becker, who was a sophomore during the incident, said the administration explained their justification.

“[The T-shirt] could be considered sexual harassment because it makes people uncomfortable,” Becker said. “We were disappointed in ourselves.”

Now, as the class of 2014 approaches their long awaited graduation, senior girls search for administrative justification as their shirts have been censored.

“It was the meaning behind it,” vice principal Eric Mapes said.

The T-shirt, which is solid blue with white lettering, has “She got a big blue tee so I call her Big Blue Tee” printed on the front.  The words are a parody of the single “Birthday Song” by 2Chainz.

The song, released in 2012 and featuring Kanye West, makes sexual references to females’ behinds.

“It was sending the wrong message to the student body, when we are trying to say [the seniors] are the role models [of the school],” Mapes said.

According to Handbook, under Article 2 of the Dress Code, clothing that refers to an “unsanctioned social club” is not permitted. In addition, under Article 5, clothing with “obscene pictures, slogans, or graphics which convey explicit sexual messages or which demean males females” is prohibited.

If a student is seen wearing clothing that disobey these restrictions, he or she is to be sent home, according to the Handbook.

Article 7 of the Dress Code states that “Piedmont High School has a system that asks students to think about the effect their clothing may be having on others as an ordinary first step in redressing problems of inappropriate clothing.”

“There’s a lot of gray area on dress codes,” Mapes said. “That’s why it has to be a conversation.”

Mapes said that several seniors were called into the office to discuss the impacts and possible messages the shirt displays.

“[However,] most of the girls have been very respectful,” Mapes said.

Senior class president senior Marie St. Claire, who helped purchase the shirt for the senior girls group, said she does not think the shirts harm anyone or any group of people.

“I think the fact that the majority of girls wanted to buy and wear them says a lot,” St. Claire said.

Senior Betsy Perkocha said that compared to other prohibited articles of clothing that have been banned in the past and are restricted under the PHS dress code, the senior girls’ shirts are fairly innocent. She said the enforcement of this restriction has been sporadic, as she wore it without receiving a warning.

“I wore it on the first day of school, and I didn’t get in trouble,” Perkocha said.  “I feel like [the administration] only notices some of the time.”

However, senior Tess Reichle said she wore the shirt during September and was asked to not wear it in the future.

“If I wore it again, I would get in trouble,” Reichle said. “I paid money for this shirt and [have] seen so many other people wearing it and not get stopped.”

Mapes said there is only so much the administration can do when it comes to enforcing the dress code. He said many of the issues have greater implications.

“If we see it, we will address it,” Mapes said. “People will have to change or cover it up. I want people to understand why we are here. It gets into self respect. We all want you to be successful, and we don’t need any unnecessary distractions.”