A junior high administrator in the Pearland Independent School District is currently on leave after being accused of forcing a student to color in his hair with a permanent marker.
The student had a design in his head and the administrator allegedly took a black marker and drew in where the design was.
On April 17, the school district reported that a Berry Miller Junior High campus administrator told a 13-year-old student that his haircut was in violation of the school’s dress code policy. He then gave the boy three options: notify his mother, receive disciplinary action or fill in the shape of the missing hair with a marker.
The student reportedly chose the third option.
The boy’s mother has notified district leadership but nothing was done until Tuesday (Apr 23) after the incident went viral on social media.
Pearland ISD has said the administrator is on leave.
“The district did not even have the courtesy to notify me that they had issued a public statement. They have been in touch with me minimally through this process, but they did apparently send a woman from the board of trustees to speak to my son without my involvement. That is completely inappropriate in the setting of an ongoing investigation of this incident. Punishing students for their style of hair is a discriminatory practice,” the mother said.
“The first paragraph of the district press release is meant to blame (her son) instead of immediately taking responsibility for the actions of the (assistant principal). They also lie that they provided an option for parental notification. Then, they decided to put this individual on administrative leave but do not indicate whether that leave is paid, whether they will rescind his promotion, what the timeline for action will be.”
Pearland ISD released a statement saying: “Pearland ISD is extremely disappointed to learn of a situation that occurred at Berry Miller Junior High.
“A student recently arrived at school with a haircut against district dress code. Pearland ISD’s dress code states: ‘Hair must be neat, clean and well groomed. Extreme hair styles such as carvings, mohawks, spikes, etc. are not allowed.’
“A campus administrator mishandled disciplinary action by giving the student options including notifying his mother, disciplinary consequences or filling in the shape of the hair carving with a marker. This latter practice is not condoned by the district and does not align with appropriate measures for dress code violations.
“The campus administrator is currently on administrative leave. Further action is forthcoming.
“District administration has contacted the student’s family to express our sincerest apology and extreme disappointment in this situation, which does not fall in line with the values of Pearland ISD.”
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Pearland ISD Administrator Accused Of Using Marker To Color In Boys Haircut was originally published on myhoustonmajic.com
