After asking Native American boy to cut his hair, Leland school accused of discrimination

Jamey Cross, Wilmington StarNews
·4 min read
1.2k
Logan Lomboy, a first-grader at Classical Charter Schools of Leland, was asked to cut his long hair to comply with the school's grooming policies. His mother says the alleged demand infringes on his religious and cultural rights.
Logan Lomboy, a first-grader at Classical Charter Schools of Leland, was asked to cut his long hair to comply with the school's grooming policies. His mother says the alleged demand infringes on his religious and cultural rights.

A Leland charter school is being accused of discrimination after administration allegedly asked a first-grade Native American student to cut his long hair to comply with the school's grooming policies.

Ashley Lomboy said her 6-year-old son, Logan, has been a student at Classical Charter Schools of Leland since he started kindergarten around 18 months ago. Since then, Lomboy said they have always sent Logan to school with his long hair neatly styled in a bun, as the school's boys grooming policy dictates boys' hair should be off the collar, above the ears and above the eyebrows.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the school's board of trustees, claiming the policy and its enforcement discriminates against Logan and other Native American students. The ACLU claims enforcing hair rules for boys that prohibit them from wearing hairstyles that are allowed for girls also constitutes sex discrimination.

The ACLU called on the school to allow an exemption for Logan.

"We urge you to immediately grant Logan an accommodation allowing him to wear his hair in a long braid down his back, in accordance with his cultural and religious traditions. In the alternative, we ask the School to permit Logan to continue wearing his hair in a bun," the letter said.

In a Wednesday news release, Classical Charter Schools of America defended its "longstanding grooming standards," claiming they are applied regardless of a student's race, religion, income, cultural background or national origins.

“The ACLU seems more interested in creating controversy than resolving it,” said Baker A. Mitchell, President and CEO of The Roger Bacon Academy, which manages the four southeastern North Carolina CCS-A charter schools.

In February, Lomboy said, school administration approached Logan's father in the drop-off line and told him Logan would need to cut his hair to comply with the school's grooming policies. Lomboy said she and her family are part of the Waccamaw Siouan tribe, one of eight state-recognized Native American tribes.

"Hair is a part of our culture," Lomboy said. "Logan's a dancer, he needs his hair, it's a part of him... He's grown up knowing it is an extension of him. It's like asking him to cut off his pinky."

Read this:Man's journey to preserve Native American heritage in Brunswick sparks renewed recognition

The next day, Lomboy said she had a conversation with school administrators, who told her she would need to file a grievance and administration would consider approving an exemption to the policy. During that conversation, Lomboy said, she also learned Logan was one of around 30 kids at four schools who had been told they would need to cut their hair.

Confident the exemption would be approved, Lomboy filed a grievance.

On March 10, Lomboy said she was informed the grievance was denied and the school was asking that Logan return from spring break on March 29 with short hair in compliance with the school's policy.

"They're asking him to sacrifice culture for a better education," Lomboy said. "That shouldn't be a choice any parent has to make in this state."

According to Classical Charter Schools of Leland's parent student handbook for the current school year, boys and girls face different grooming standards. For boys, the handbook outlines that "hair must be neatly trimmed and off the collar, above the eyebrows, not below the top of the ears or eyebrows, and not an excessive height." The standards go on to specify that "distracting, extreme, radical, or faddish haircuts, hair styles, and colors are not allowed."

More:U.S. Supreme Court takes interest in Leland charter school dress code case

Lomboy said she was told by school administrators that "man buns" and ponytail hairstyles on boys were considered "faddish haircuts" and not allowed, per the policy.

According to Mitchell, the case will be considered by the board of trustees in April, and Logan will be permitted to attend school wearing his hair in a bun as he has in the past until the board's decision.

Last year, the same school was the subject of a federal appeals court case in which judges ruled that the school's dress code, which required female students to wear skirts, violated the constitutional rights of its female pupils.

Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter @jameybcross.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland charter school accused of discrimination over boys' hair policy