Girls who attend Catholic high schools in Durham Region can continue wearing kilts to school after a proposed ban on the uniform item was defeated Monday evening.

After a lengthy debate, Durham's Catholic school board voted to keep kilts a staple of the female uniform in its 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 put forward a motion to ban the controversial garments after he said officials were spending too much time trying to enforce the length of skirts.

Earlier this week, students at an Oshawa Catholic high school told CTV Toronto's Dana Levenson that they hiked up their kilts because they thought it made the garments look better.

Those students said they'd be upset if the school board moved to replace kilts with pants.

Approximately 4,500 female students attend Catholic high schools in Durham Region.

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