An Assistant Principal at Tarver Elementary in Belton, Texas pulled Marian Reed’s third grade daughter out of class for not being in compliance with the school’s dress code. The school claimed the Frohawk, which is similar to the approved Mohawk hairstyle, wasn’t an approved look for school.
“It wasn’t in a mohawk,” Reed told a local news affiliate. “It’s not shaved on the side or anything. She was a little girl being 9 years old. She cried and said no one was going to want to be her friend because her hair was not as pretty as the assistant principal’s and, as a parent, that’s heartbreaking because that’s just what God naturally gave her.”
Reed is recommending school administrators undergo diversity training and is angry about the way they handled the situation. “They could have called me and discussed it with me without pulling her out of class and without having that conversation in front of her because now she’s questioning her natural image and, at nine years old, she’s going to remember that for the rest of her life,” she says.
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Charla Trejo, the executive director of campus leadership had this to say about the incident, “We had an assistant principal call a parent and make them aware of the dress code issues and then just try to resolve that by asking them to take care of that…”Do we need training? We are always willing to train and to learn and do things, however, this particular situation was about consistency. It was about making sure we have the same expectations for everyone.”
Are you tired of hearing these stories? Shoud schools have cultural diversity training? When is enough, enough?