03:36 PM CST on Monday, February 20, 2006

From 11 News Staff Reports

A group of angry Austin High School seniors protested Monday over what they call a broken promise.

KHOU

Dozens of students carried signs and chanted in front of the school.

Dozens of students carried signs and chanted in front of the east Houston school.

They say school officials promised to relax the uniform dress code for the rest of the year as long the kids passed the TAKS test.

That's a standardized test that all Texas students must pass to get a diploma. The number of students who pass counts toward each school's performance rating.

The Austin protesters passed, but the dress code didn't change.

"They said if we passed all of our TAKS tests we can wear whatever we wanted and I don't see that happening. So we're fed up and we're doing what we want now," said Blanca Gutierrez.

An HISD spokesperson told 11 News the Austin principal denies making the promise to the students.

The principal says the dress code is necessary for the students' safety.

The demonstrators also complained they were locked outside in the cold and rain Monday until the media showed up at the school.