The parents of a black Texas teenager are suing their son’s school district after officials took a Sharpie marker to the youth’s head and colored in his faded haircut so it would meet the school’s dress code, CNN reported.
The federal civil rights lawsuit was formally filed on Sunday against the Pearland independent school district (ISD), as well as against three staff members of Berry Miller junior high.
On April 16, the then-seventh grader Juelz Trice (J.T) got a faded haircut, and then attended school just a few days later.
While eating breakfast in the cafeteria, he was ordered to the office, where administrators told the 13-year-old his haircut’s design violated the school’s dress code policy.
He was then given two options: color in the design on his scalp with a Sharpie or receive an in-school suspension.
In order to avoid being suspended from class, J.T opted to have his scalp colored and proceeded to do so himself.
According to the lawsuit, the black sharpie actually made the design of J.T’s hair more prominent.
It was at this point that discipline clerk Helen Day, who was present during the incident, took the Sharpie and proceeded to color in the teen’s head herself.
Also present was teacher Jeanette Peterson and then-assistant principal Tony Barcelona, who has since been promoted to principal.
Each one allegedly took a turn blackening the boy’s scalp, and all three administrators present are described in the lawsuit as being white.
The suit alleges that the teachers “laughed as they took many minutes to color 13-year-old J.T’s scalp.”
It also says it took the teen “many days of scrubbing” before the permanent marker came off his head.
J.T’s parents, Dante Trice and Angela Washington, said they recieved no notification from the school before they went ahead and colored their son’s scalp.
Randal Kallinen, attorney for the parents, said Day, the discipline clerk, should have known better how children should be disciplined.
Since news of the incident has spread, the Pearland ISD has issued a statement.
In it, officials say they are “extremely disappointed” to learn of the situation, but insist that J.T’s haircut did indeed violate district dress code.
They did however acknowledge that a “campus administrator mishandled disciplinary action” and said the district does not condone the practices shown by the staff named in the lawsuit.
The student’s family has been contacted “to express our sincerest apology and extreme disappointment in this situation.”
The district also said it has no received any formal notification of a lawsuit from J.T’s family.
“Upon receipt, it will be reviewed by our legal counsel,” the district’s lawyer, Tanya Dawson, said in a statement.
The lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive damages. It also asks the court to order that Pearland ISD employees receive racial sensitivity training regarding certain haircuts.
The school’s current dress code lists several rules for students to follow as it pertains to their hair.
This includes keeping their hair “clean, neat, and well groomed” and also forbids “distracting colors.”
“Head coverings such as hats, caps, bandannas, or hair rollers are not allowed,” the dress code reads. “An exception will be made for religious headwear.”
h/t: CNN
