Hundreds of people have signed an online petition demanding west Auckland's Massey High School bring back a summer uniform.
The school's uniform requires students to wear pants, long skirts, blazers and ties all year round.
Parents say the uniform is too hot in summer, and is unfair on the children.
"If you get hot, you get tired, you're not going to learn," says one parent.
"Some of the girls have fainted at the bus stop waiting to go home. It is way too hot to be wearing long pants or a long skirt and a blazer.
"It's not a thin material, the shirts are thick. [My son] came home today sweating like a pig, he was just soaked all the way home because he was so hot."
But Massey High School's board of trustee chairman John Garelja says the complaints are unfounded.
He says students only have to wear their blazer to school in the morning, and can then take it off.
"There is no requirement to wear the blazer in the classroom or on their way home from school if it's hot, it's at the pupils' discretion. Common sense has to prevail," says Mr Garelja. "We're not going to force kids to wear a blazer in boiling heat."
He says the decision not to bring in a summer uniform was based on cost.
"When we brought in this new uniform we felt that the cost would be too excessive to force parents to buy a summer uniform as well."
The school's board is expecting to hear more from parents when they meet on Thursday.
