DUNCANVILLE, Texas (AP) - A zero-tolerance dress code that's led to 700 student suspensions since August at Duncanville High School and Ninth Grade Center is causing concern among parents and students who say enforcement of the policy is too extreme.

The high school and Ninth Grade Center, which opened Aug. 18 to 3,540 students, average roughly 24 suspensions per school day.

Teresa Montgomery said she was enraged when her straight-A student called her in tears telling her she was going to be suspended.

"She is not a problem child; she's never been in trouble," Montgomery said.

Montgomery's daughter, Raylee, was suspended after an administrator noticed the 13-year-old girl's shirt had become untucked. The girl said she apologized, tucked in her shirt and asked if she could continue to class but was not allowed.

Administrators say dress code violations are more routine at the beginning of the school year, as students test the limits.

But officials from districts across the region say numbers as high as Duncanville's would concern them. In Lancaster, the fastest-growing school district in southwest Dallas County with an enrollment of about 4,700 students, administrators have reported fewer than 20 dress code citations this year.

None of those citations was a suspension. Duncanville has 11,400 students.

Of more than a dozen districts contacted by The Dallas Morning News, none suspend students for dress code violations unless they become disciplinary problems.

Terry Barnard, a Duncanville school board member, said the board asked administrators over the summer to tighten dress code enforcement after years of complaints that students were breaking the rules with no consequences.

"We've had comments from teachers telling us how much better discipline is overall, and attributing it to the strictness of the dress code," she said. "We know there have been a lot of suspensions, but the discipline is spilling over into other areas."

Duncanville students can be suspended for any violation of the student code of conduct, ranging from taking a weapon to school to acting out in class.

The consequences of breaking the rules include a one-day suspension for a first offense, two days for a second offense, and two days plus a loss of school privileges for a third offense.

Xavier Chavez said his son, Owen, a sophomore, was written up when he came back from the bathroom with his shirt untucked. Chavez said he hopes parents will speak out at school board meetings and prompt members to re-evaluate the dress code policy.

"The consequences are so extreme," Mr. Chavez said. "They've created a big problem here."