LA MARQUE, Texas -- During the first week of classes at La Marque High School, students decked out in their brand new back-to-school clothes. In the hallways though, those clothes had better fit the school district's strict dress code.

Wear the wrong outfit, and the school calls parents to come get their kids. That's what happened to Yanie Newton.

“I think the shirt is fine. It's not cut too low. The part where it would have buttons, you see, is sewn. It's sewn shut. It can't pop open,” said Newton, whose daughter was sent home from school earlier this week.

The school's principal said the shirt violated the dress code because it didn't have buttons.

Newton supports dress codes, but “Counting buttons has gone too far," she said.

The dress code isn't new, but with the Superintendent Ecomet Burley's blessing, it has become more restrictive.

“This is about standardized dress. You are expected to dress a certain way when you go to work, so he wants to start them on the path earlier,” said district spokeswoman Denise McClean.

The code forbids, among other things, polo shirts that are red or black, and they can't have more than three buttons.

The dress code enforcement is not going over too well with some students.

“I think they feel like the dress code is their first priority and that's not good at all,” said 11th grader Jaeda Perkins. “We are there to learn.”

Others are no fans of the button police.

“I'm not here to worry about how many buttons I have. So, you are going to deny me my education because I have four buttons instead of three?” complained 11th grader Cheresse Palmer.