TORONTO – A Texas mother is furious after an assistant principal at her son’s school used a black marker to “fix” a shaved line in her son’s hair.
Administrators at Coronado Middle School say the decision was in line with school dress code policy prohibiting shaved lines in the hair over concerns the look could be “gang-related.”
The mother, Monica Esquivel, told a local Texas news station that her son Kobi has no gang-affiliations whatsoever, and is outraged at the actions taken by school officials.
“My son is not in a gang. He’s not trying to be in a gang,” Monica Esquivel told KCBD News in Lubbock, Texas. “He dresses in khakis, a shirt, not in loose pants or anything, just real nice and casual. He isn’t representing a gang or anything.”
The haircut features shortly-trimmed sides, a longer centre portion combed to the right and a shaved line on the left side resembling a part in the hair.
Monica Esquivel says she was not informed by school administrators about the decision to use a marker on her son’s head. She is demanding they apologize to her and her son.
Plainview ISD Executive Director for Administrative Services Greg Brown has released a statement saying that while the school board cannot comment on the specifics of the incident, shaved lines in the hair do fall under the board’s dress code policy.
“I can’t comment on the details of the specific incident you mentioned due to confidentiality. Our dress code prohibits designs shaved into the scalp and this includes lines. The dress code is a part of the Parent/Student handbook that is made available to all students online and in paper form (if requested). Each year in the spring and early summer the handbook is edited and developed to get it ready for the next school year. The dress code is specifically looked at by the administration, who makes any changes that need to be made. In its final recommended form, the handbook is presented to the School Board for approval, usually in July,” Brown said in a statement.
But Esquivel says her son’s haircut, which she says he has worn for the past five months, should not fall under the code’s auspices.
Plainview ISD administrators say they will allow Kobi time to grow out his hair in order to comply with the dress code, while the incident will be discussed at the School Board’s review of dress code policy next year.
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