Texas Teen Suspended Due To Locs, After State Passes CROWN Act
A Black student in Mont Belvieu, Texas has been suspended from his high school for over a week due to his hairstyle.
In a conversation with CNN, Darrel George’s mother, Darresha George, shared that the suspension was because the school claimed it violated the district’s dress code. Barbers Hill High School allegedly wrote Darrel up several times and placed him on in-school suspension before making the decision to suspend him.
Suspension and the CROWN Act
George explained to the outlet that her son has not been doing well because of the school’s decision to suspend him.
“He’s very anxious, very aggravated right now because he keeps getting punished for something that’s irrelevant to his education,” she shared.
Darrel’s hair allegedly violated the length provisions for students’ hair. They are not allowed to wear hairstyles that extend past the ears or eyebrows.
The policy also states, “Male students’ hair must not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.”
According to his mother, school officials reprimanded Darrel for his jeans which were out of the dress code but was then told that he would have to cut his hair. When he did not cut his hair, he was placed on in-school suspension.
George added that her family was told if Darrel doesn’t cut his hair by the end of the week, he faces the possibility of being placed in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program.
“I want to see their policy change and stop being discriminatory against Black kids,” George said. “I want to see my son out of ISS (in-school suspension). I don’t want any other child that’s coming behind my son to go through this again.”
Darrel’s suspension came the same week that the CROWN Act went into effect statewide. When informing the school that she believed her son’s suspension was in violation of the new law, officials told her that the school’s length rule does not violate it. The George family has hired a lawyer and is considering taking legal action.
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