In Texas, a Black high school student who had been suspended for much of the school year for wearing a natural hairstyle returned to regular classes after spending a month at an alternative school. However, the return to class was short-lived. On December 5, a school administrator said Daryl George violated the dress code policy for the same reason—his natural hairstyle, according to NPR.
His family says Darryl was later referred to in-school suspension, according to Candice Matthews, according to a family spokesperson.
The school cited that Darryl’s locs “out of compliance with the BH dress code when let down,” according to a disciplinary notice NPR reports. The notice stated that if he corrects the “dress code violation,” he will be allowed to return to regular classes but remain suspended for 13 days.
“We will continue to fight alongside the George Family and work with State Rep Bowers and Reynolds to amend the vague language that’s being exploited by Barbers Hill ISD to push their racial discrimination agenda towards our children,” the George family said in a statement.
The family’s attorney, Allie Booker, said she is working to have the suspensions ended so that he can resume regular classes again. Following Darryl’s suspension for violating the school’s dress code policy, he was placed in a disciplinary alternative education program.
Earlier this year, Darresha George, Darryl’s mother, received a notice from Barbers Hill High School Principal Lance Murphy citing Darryl’s alleged violations of “multiple infractions of campus and classroom rules,” including disruption of the in-school suspension classroom, failure to comply with directives from staff and administration, violation of tardy policy; and violation of the dress and grooming policy, NPR reports.
The alleged infractions, excluding the tardiness, were apparently connected to his natural hairstyle. The notice stated that Darryl was allowed to return to class on November 30.
Darryl and his mother filed a federal lawsuit in September, arguing that his suspension violates Texas’s CROWN Act, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination. The school asked the court to clarify whether the CROWN Act “prohibits grooming policies addressing a male student’s hair.”
As ESSENCE previously reported, Darryl was initially suspended from Barbers Hill High School just before the Texas law went into effect statewide on September 1.
In light of his numerous suspensions, questions about the legality of punishing students for their natural hair and the extent of the law’s protections are being raised.