After serving more than a month of in-school suspension over his dreadlocks, a Black student in Texas was told he will be removed from his high school and sent to a disciplinary alternative education program on Thursday.
Darryl George, 18, is a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and has been suspended since Aug. 31. He will be sent to EPIC, an alternative school program, from Oct. 12 through Nov. 29 for “failure to comply” with multiple campus and classroom regulations, the principal said in a Wednesday letter provided to The Associated Press by the family.
Principal Lance Murphy stated in his letter that George has consistently disregarded the student conduct standards that were previously communicated by the district. The letter further mentions that George will regain access to regular classroom instruction on November 30th, with the exception of being present on his high school’s campus unless it is for a meeting regarding his behavior with school administrators.
According to the student handbook, Barbers Hill Independent School District has set guidelines for male students’ hair length, which should not extend below the eyebrows, ear lobes, or the top of a T-shirt collar. Moreover, all students are expected to maintain clean, well-groomed, geometric haircuts without any unnatural colors or styles. It is worth noting that the school does not enforce a uniform policy.
The teenager’s hairstyle has been denied as a dress code violation by George’s mother, Darresha George, and the family’s attorney. In response, the family has taken legal action against the state’s governor and attorney general, filing a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit. Their allegations claim that the officials failed to enforce a recently enacted law that prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles.
What is the CROWN Act?
The family alleges George’s suspension and subsequent discipline violate the state’s CROWN Act, which took effect Sept. 1. The law, an acronym for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is intended to prohibit race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots.
A federal version passed in the U.S. House last year, but was not successful in the Senate.
In Chambers County, east of Houston, the school district took legal action by filing a lawsuit in state district court. Their aim was to seek clarification from a judge regarding the compatibility of their dress code restrictions, which limit boys’ hair length, with the CROWN Act.
George’s school had previously experienced conflicts with two other Black male students regarding the dress code.
In 2020, De’Andre Arnold and Kaden Bradford, who are cousins, were instructed by Barbers Hill officials to trim their dreadlocks. Disagreeing with this policy, their families filed a lawsuit against the district in May 2020. Eventually, a federal judge determined that the district’s hair policy was discriminatory. This ongoing legal battle played a role in motivating Texas lawmakers to pass the CROWN Act. Consequently, both students decided to leave the school, but Bradford returned after the judge’s ruling.
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- Discrimination
- Houston
- Lawsuit
- Texas
- Education
- Racism
