A Texas third-grader was allegedly asked to change her hair after her elementary school said the style was not in compliance with the dress code.
Marian Reed told KCEN that her 9-year-old daughter was in physical education class when she was taken out of class. The assistant principal then called home about her hair style.
According to Reed, her daughter’s hair does not lay flat, so she put it in small ponytails, or “afro puffs.”
"She cried and said no one was going to want to be her friend because her hair was not as pretty as the assistant principal's,” she said. “And, as a parent, that's heartbreaking because that's just what God naturally gave her."
Reed said the school found her style to resemble a fauxhawk, which is similar to a Mohawk, and that those are prohibited according to the school dress code. "It wasn't in a mohawk,” Reed told KCEN. “It's not shaved on the side or anything. She was a little girl being 9 years old."
Reed said that her daughter previously wore a similar style, but with longer, synthetic braids rather than her natural hair. She said she did not think the decision was based on a race, but told KCEN that cultural-diversity training may be good for the school district.
"They could have called me and discussed it with me without pulling her out of class and without having that conversation in front of her because now she's questioning her natural image,” Reed said. “And, at 9 years old, she's going to remember that for the rest of her life."
Charla Trejo, executive director of campus leadership, told KCEN that the school was just enforcing the dress code and that they wanted to “resolve (the hair issue) by asking (parents) to take care of that.”
Read more at KCEN.
About the Author
