As Rapides School Board prepares to consider hair color again, it's too late for some kids

Caronda Fish Marler would let her young daughter color her hair during the summer, either just the ends so it could be trimmed before she headed back to Forest Hill Junior High School or a color that could be washed out.

But when the Rapides Parish School Board approved a policy in May that allows students to color their hair in shades other than what's considered natural, Marler let the third-grader get teal and purple streaks throughout her hair.

Now, nine weeks after that vote and less than a month before the start of the 2023-24 school year, the board again will consider the issue in its education committee after member Mark Dryden raised concerns about it at the July 5 meeting.

Dryden was one of seven members to approve the change in May. The change also allows students to wear facial hair as long as it is "neat and well groomed," according to the policy.

Approved in May: Dress code changes, including hair dyes and beards, approved for Rapides Parish schools

Up for debate again in July: After May approval, Rapides School Board to again debate if students can color their hair

But it's only the hair coloring that's being considered again, Dryden said after the meeting. He acknowledged that if the board undoes the change, it likely will affect more girls than boys.

Marler said it's too late for her to make any changes. The color in her daughter's hair will have to grow out on its own.

She said she doesn't have the extra money to go to a hairstylist again after purchasing all the other items necessary for the new school year — uniforms, spirit shirts, supplies and assorted fees.

And her daughter isn't the only child who had their hair dyed after the board's May vote.

Melissa Brouillette allowed her 11-year-old daughter, Malaya Brouillette, to color some of her hair pink while getting ready to begin sixth grade at Ruby Wise Elementary School in Pineville. She's now waiting to see what the board does so she knows how to proceed.

She took Malaya to a local salon to dye the ends of her hair, but "it turned into more than tips before I realized," she said.

If the board were to reverse its decision, her daughter could get the color cut out of her hair. But Brouillette says that's a lot of hair to cut.

Dying back to her natural color is an option, too, but she doesn't see what the fuss is about.

"Honestly, what does hair color have to with anything or education?" she asks. "It's about the child's likes or personality. It built confidence in my daughter, actually."

Melanie Cook also has an 11-year-old daughter, a student entering sixth grade at Mary Goff Elementary School in Tioga. Her daughter had her hair dyed teal and blue after the board changed its policy, and she agrees with Brouillette.

"I think that children's hair color has nothing to do with how they learn," she said. "We send our children to school to learn, not to be judged on hair color.

"I also think that it's ridiculous to make a change a month before school starts."

Cook said a lot of parents sport dyed hair of all colors, "so what does the School Board think of us as parents?"

How we got here

In September, member Steve Berry told the board's education committee he'd been approached by administrators and parents who asked him to bring the issue to the board. Some administrators didn't want to become the "hair police," he said.

Berry said he had no problem with changing the policy.

“If a kid wants to dye their hair, let them dye their hair,” he said.

He said what was inside a student's head was more important than what was on it, and he also supported allowing students to have facial hair.

“Same issue,” he said. “Facial hair should not be, as far as I’m concerned, an impediment to getting an education.”

At the October regular meeting, the measure passed on a 5-3 vote after an attempt by Barrios to delay a decision until the summer months failed.

Dryden was absent from that meeting. Barrios, Vice President Buddy McCall and former member Darrell Rodriguez voted against the measure.

But, since policy changes have 30 days before they go into effect, the board voted at its November meeting to hold off and let the issue go before its discipline review committee.

That vote was 5-3 with members Berry, Sandra Franklin and Linda Burgess voting no. Dryden again was absent from the meeting.

The discipline review committee recommended allowing students to be able to dye their hair in colors other than what's considered natural — black, brown, blonde and auburn — and facial hair, like beards. After being approved by a committee in April, it was sent to the full board at its regular May meeting.

Those changes were among multiple ones made, including to the dress code, tobacco and vaping use and suspension and expulsion policies. The vote was 7-2 with President Dr. Stephen Chapman and Barrios voting no.

The item is on the education committee agenda, which will meet after 5 p.m. in the board's meeting room on the corner of Sixth and Beauregard streets in downtown Alexandria.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Moms who let kids dye hair wait to see what Rapides School Board does