A school district in southeast Kansas came under fire on Friday from the American Civil Liberties Union for pressuring an 8-year-old Native American boy to cut off his long hair, even though the boy’s culture and faith value long hair.
According to the ACLU, R.V. Haderlein Elementary, which is situated roughly 140 miles south of Kansas City, has a “Boy’s Hair Length” policy that mandates that boys, not girls, wear short hair.
The child’s Wyandotte Nation member mother tried to convince the school that the boy’s long hair is a part of the family’s culture and religion, but the administrators persuaded her to cut the boy’s hair or risk sending him home in the future.
According to the ACLU, the school’s decision is in violation of several civil rights laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. Constitution, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act.
According to the school district’s policy, a boy’s hair cannot cover his eyebrows, hang past his earlobes, or touch the collar of a crew neck t-shirt. Rattails and ponytails are also prohibited. According to the ACLU, there is no hair length policy for girls.
Superintendent Todd Ferguson of Girard Schools stated via email that the district is concerned about giving kids a sense of safety and respect.
Because of confidentiality laws, I am unable to comment on specific students, families, or staff members. He sent an email on Monday morning, saying, “I can share that the USD 248 Board of Education is planning to review and consider updates to the dress code policy when they meet on December 14th.”
Boys are primarily permitted by their tribal customs to chop or wear their hair short when they are mourning the loss of a loved one. After observing other male tribal members wear their hair long last summer, the boy wanted to start the same habit.
According to the ACLU, “Haderlein’s policy perpetuates a legacy of cultural, psychological, and spiritual trauma and discrimination and impacts Native American students disproportionately.” “In addition, the school’s discriminatory sex-based hair policy harms all students by promoting rigid views of gender norms and roles and sends a damaging message to boys that they cannot be feminine in any way.”
On September 22, the assistant principal of the school sent an email to the boy’s mother threatening to send him home if his hair was not cut by September 25. To talk about it further, the boy’s mother can get in touch with the district superintendent, according to the assistant principal.
The boy’s mother attempted to contact the superintendent, but her calls were not answered, according to the letter from the ACLU. That weekend, the boy’s mother chopped off his hair, believing he would be sent home or suspended multiple times.
The ACLU wrote to the school district, “We also urge you to reevaluate and rescind the policy in its entirety because the Boy’s Hair Length Policy is facially unlawful.”
“We implore you to make an accommodation right away that will allow him to wear his hair below his shoulders in keeping with his cultural and religious traditions in the interim.”