NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Eleventh-graders at Hume-Fogg Magnet High School are not in uniform now, but the clothes they're wearing could have gotten them suspended before this week.

"Yeah, I thought it was a disgusting idea, and I'm glad it's over," said junior Evan Nagy.

Hume-Fogg is one of seven Metro schools that have decided to scrap standard school attire for the rest of this school year and all of next.

"It didn't affect our grades, and, I mean, we got more referrals to the office, I mean, and it wasted time," said junior Mika Agari.

The controversial move to khakis and polo shirts for Metro students is only two years old. Backers saw it as a way to increase school safety and create a more calm, productive environment, but Kelly Harned said at his school, standard school attire didn't improve grades or safety but had too many kids out of class and in his office.

"We surveyed students and parents, and they were all willing to opt out of SSA," said Harned, Hume-Fogg's assistant principal.

Assistant Superintendent Ralph Thompson said this doesn't mean the days of uniforms are over in Nashville schools, but now each school can make its own set of rules with approval from the district. Some are opting out, adding more color options; others are allowing jeans but still requiring polo shirts.

"Some schools now are allowing the typical button-down, dress kind of shirts as long as they are in the school colors, so yes, we encourage parents to check with the local school and find out," said Thompson.

District rules keep students from going too far, but no longer will a striped or polka-dotted shirt put them in detention.

"I mean, it's pretty exciting that I don't have to worry about that anymore," said Agari.

District leaders said parents have been calling -- some upset about the changes and some saying it's about time.

Starting next year, each school will also be able to use its own discipline guidelines for dress code violations, meaning students out of uniform at one school may get an in-school suspension while another school may decide to just write students up.

List of schools opting out:

Hume-Fogg Magnet High School

Hillsboro High School

Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School

Meigs Magnet Middle School

Middle College High School

Big Picture High School

Nashville School of the Arts