A Texas superintendent doubled down on the district's decision to punish a Black student who wears dreadlocks for violating its dress code even after being faced with litigation.
The superintendent of the Barbers Hill Independent School District, Greg Poole, took out a full-page ad on Jan. 14 in the Houston Chronicle to defend suspending a student for hair that was too long. He said districts with a traditional dress code are safer and achieve higher academic performance.
"We will not lose sight of the main goal — high standards for our students — by bending to political pressure or responding to misinformed media reports. These entities have 'lesser' goals that ultimately harm kids," Poole wrote.
One particular part of the ad that garnered outrage was when Poole asserted "being an American requires conformity."
"Our military academies... maintain a rigorous expectation of dress. They realize being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity, and being a part of something bigger than yourself," Poole said.
Obama's former Department of Education secretary, Arne Duncan, responded to the story on X, saying, "Dear School Board: Please do your job and fire this superintendent."
The district claims high school student Darryl George's, 18, twisted dreadlocks violate a policy limiting hair length for male students. The district said other students with locs comply with the length policy.
"We have African-American students with hair longer than our dress code permits. They applied, qualified for, and were granted religious exemptions... The criticism from the... media is based upon assumptions that the school district is clinging to outdated values or social norms, but academic excellence never goes out of style," Poole said in the ad.
The student, on the other hand, said he felt stress and frustration over what he saw as unfair punishment. He argued that the way his hair is styled – tied and twisted on top of his head – should not be considered a violation of the hair length policy.
A trial is set for Feb. 22 to determine whether the district's dress code restrictions violate the CROWN Act. The new Texas law, which took effect in September, prohibits race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots.
"I'm glad that we are being heard, too. I'm glad that things are moving, and we're getting through this," George said about the litigation moving forward.
"I have a son, 18 years old, that wants to go to school, that wants to get his education, and y'all messing with him. Why?" the student's mother, Darresha George, said.
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"His grades are failing. They're going down drastically," his mother told NBC News in September. "He's not getting a proper education."
In an affidavit filed in the case by the plaintiffs, George argued that he was being subjected to "cruel treatment."
"I love my hair, it is sacred, and it is my strength," George wrote. "All I want to do is go to school and be a model student. I am being harassed by school officials and treated like a dog."
The superintendent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
