Trustees of the Catholic District School Board of Durham region voted against a motion seeking parent input on a possible kilt ban at a meeting Monday night.
The final vote was three in favour and five against the motion to ask for input on the proposed ban from parents and parent councils at all seven Durham Catholic District Schools.
The potential ban became an issue after one trustee said he was receiving complaints that female students' skirts were being worn too short.
Trustee Chris Leahy says the board spends too much time trying to enforce the length of kilts. While the kilts are designed to be knee length, many girls wear their hemlines well above that.
"What message are we sending to our children, whether they are boys or girls, that they need to have short skirts?" Leahy told CTV Toronto.
He added that some students have complained that if they wear their kilts too long they are teased for being nerdy.
Students at Oshawa's Monsignor Paul Dywer Catholic High School told CTV Toronto's Dana Levenson on Monday that they purposely hike up their kilts because they think it looks better and would be upset if the garments were banned.
Approximately 4,500 female students would be affected if the school board moved to replace their kilts with pants.
Some of the students took to Twitter to voice their opinions on the proposed ban on Monday.
"If they ban the kilt then they can give me the money back that I spent on it," IAmTheTruth tweeted.
The board has suggested that a kilt ban would be phased in, starting with the upcoming Grade 9 class, or having a one-year transition period.
Catholic boards in Toronto, Halton, Peterborough and Clarington have already given schools the power to ban kilts.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Scott Lightfoot and files from The Canadian Press
