Some would call it a 'cover-up' of a decent kind.
Cindy Sawyer, St. Mary's College principal, told SooToday Thursday a policy has been put in place whereby all students at the school must wear a standard gym uniform for regular physical education classes and a T-shirt for Personal Fitness classes.
That means no sports bras for girls and no shirtless boys in Personal Fitness classes.
Personal Fitness classes involve using the weight room, pilates, yoga and other activities.
A letter written to Sawyer March 8 from two female St. Mary's College students, on behalf of other female Personal Fitness class members, protested what they felt was unfair treatment based on gender.
The school's physical education department had denied a request from female Personal Fitness students to wear sports bras during their workouts.
The request was denied because it was thought the bras would be a distraction to male students entering the workout area.
Male students, however, in some cases, would go shirtless in male Personal Fitness classes.
"In our class, which is an all-girls class, the females train by themselves in a weight room, and for comfort, we would like to dress in our sports bras, which hardly resemble bras, as you may know, and are similar to tank tops," the letter to Sawyer reads.
"The boys, who participate in activities on their own in the gym, in the all-boys section of the class, are allowed to go shirtless," the letter stated.
"However, when we approached our teacher to request wearing sports bra apparel when exercising on our own in the weight room, we were told that dressing like that could be 'distracting,' particularly if a boy walked in."
"We find this approach to be discriminatory based on our gender, since the boys’ lack of clothes is not seen as distracting," the letter continued.
The decision by the school stipulating all students must go with the standard gym uniform for regular gym classes, and wear a T-shirt for Personal Fitness classes, was brought in to ensure a level playing field.
"I was very impressed with the letter," Sawyer told SooToday.
"I met with the two girls the following day (after receiving the letter)."
"They drew my attention to an issue that should have been dealt with a while ago."
"In retrospect, I think one of the reasons why it hasn't been at the forefront is that our gymnasiums at the old St. Mary's and St. Basil were closed-off areas, and in comparison the gymnasium (at the new St. Mary's College) is in the centre of our school and we have windows on each of the floors that look in from the hallways, so it's a very open area now."
As a result, Sawyer said she instructed the school's physical education teachers to ensure both male and female students go by the gym rules in regard to attire.
The girls who met with the principal, Sawyer said, were happy with the decision.
"It (sports bras or working out shirtless) isn't appropriate, it's not in keeping with our policy of modesty and in keeping with our Christian values."
"It's my expectation the boys won't be shirtless or girls wearing anything immodest in the gym," Sawyer said.