To require a student to style his or her hair the way the school deems is appropriate is actually inappropriate particularly if a student is styling his or her hair to embrace their culture.
The girls' parents have since filed a complaint with the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League. But some say the school's policies cross the line - in fact, the hair and makeup policy has come under particular scrutiny this week, after being called out for discrimination.
Deanna and Maya Cook said they were banned from prom and were left in a state of shock once the MA school's officials handed down their ruling. She believes the policy targets students of color, who wear their hair in braids or extensions reflecting their African-American culture. Deanna, who recently qualified for her state's track meet, has been suspended from the team, risking her ability to earn college athletic scholarships.
As a mom of four black children myself - one of whom wears her hair in braided extensions similar to those of Deanna and Mya - this story has more than troubled me. Mya was removed from the softball team and told she couldn't attend the prom.
In response, Interim School Director Alexander Dan sent a letter to all Mystic Valley parents defending the policy. "If you have extensions in, it lasts a considerable time longer than just regular braids".
"Denying young Black women their opportunity to express their cultural identity will not make your school safer, more orderly or less 'distracting, ' " the letter said. "Any suggestion that it is based on anything else is simply wrong". State education data also shows that black students at the school were more than twice as likely previous year to be suspended for any infraction compared with white students. "Our policy on hair extensions, which tend to be very expensive, is consistent with. the educational environment that we believe is so important to our students' success".
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Dan still says the school "would like to focus on what unites our students and reduce visible gaps between those of different means". That price, Cook told The Post, is no more expensive than the chemical straightening Deanna and Mya had previously done and on par with the price of other hairstyles. Of the 1,500 students there in grades K-12, 43 percent are people of color and within that, 17 percent are black, according to numbers from U.S. News and World Report.
Even the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association is upset about the policy saying that the policy and enforcement actions "run counter to everything we - as parents, educators, as association board members - stand for and teach in our schools".
"The policy specifically discriminates against African-American children as it relates to hair extensions", Aaron added.
"That has to change", he told The Post. "I see white kids with colored hair and you are not supposed to color your hair, and they walk around like it's nothing".
Back in early April 2016, Canadian Zara employee, Cree Ballah, was asked to take out her braids during a shift because the company was going for a "clean professional look" and they said the sales associate's hair was "not the look for Zara".
So now, the goal is to change the policy and hold the school accountable, he said. "At the end of this, we want a better school for our children".
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