An assistant principal at Charlotte's Northwest School of the Arts sent a phone message to parents and students Friday apologizing for an "inappropriate analogy" he made during an assembly Thursday that offended many students.

Marshall Gore, a new assistant principal at the performing arts magnet school, met with students Wednesday and Thursday to explain the school's dress code, emphasizing to dance students that wearing leotards or leggings at school outside the dance classroom is banned, said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry.

"The idea was that kids have to be mindful about what they have on outside the classroom," Henry said.

But an online petition on www.change.org posted by Northwest students says that Gore's comments implied that wearing leotards outside the dance classroom was "provocative" and invited negative attention.

"He explained that wearing leotards and tights in public places around the school would motivate the men to rape us," said the petition posted by a student and signed by dozens of others who attended the assembly. "He went on to say that once you are raped, you will be the talk of the town all because you chose to dress promiscuous."

The main issue, the petition said, is that Gore seemed to be blaming victims because of what they wore. The petition asked for an apology to the student body and a re-evaluation of the dress code.

One senior who signed the petition said Gore's explanation "crossed the line."

"Mr. Gore's methods might work at other schools where delinquency and sexual assaults are commonplace, but Northwest is not 'other schools,' " the senior wrote.

Gore and the school's principal, Barry Bowe, didn't return requests for interviews Friday.

In an earlier recorded phone message to parents, Bowe said a "staff member" used an "inappropriate analogy to explain a dress code violation."

He assured parents that he was "addressing the issue."

Later, Gore sent a recorded phone message to Northwest families apologizing for "the comments I made at the assemblies earlier this week about young ladies and their dress."

"I understand that many students were offended by my comments and that was not my intention," Gore's apology continued. "The safety of students at NWSA is always my top concern. I am sorry I was unable to convey that message."

Henry said Gore told her he never used the word rape in his explanation for the dress code. "I don't know what the analogy was," she said. "But it was obviously inappropriate in nature and it was perceived to be inappropriate. I'm not denying that something inappropriate was said. I just don't know the specifics."

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