Latest News USA: Texas School Tells Woman To Cut Grandson’s Dreadlocks Or Put Him In A Dress
A local school board is under fire after the superintendent told a Texas grandmother, Randi Woodley, to cut her grandson, Michael’s, long dreadlocks or wear him a dress if he wanted to stay in school. The 4-year-old who is also known as “Tink”, was told by a Tatum Elementary School teacher that his hair violated the school’s dress code, which mandates, “no ponytails, ducktails, rat-tails, male buns, or puffballs are allowed on male students.” The code also stipulates hair for boys “shouldn’t extend past the top of a t-shirt collar.”
Woodley who has been taking care of Tink since he was 8 months old, was told to come into the principal’s office in August 2018 and told “that my grandson’s hair was too long.” There was a one-on-one meeting with Superintendent, Dr. J.P. Richardson in which Woodley was given three options. “He told me that I could either cut it, braid it and pin it up—or put my grandson in a dress and send him to school. And when prompted, my grandson must say he’s a girl.”
However, she’s continued to resist the district’s regulation claiming it discriminates against children of color. There was a school board meeting about the situation Monday night and some parents held signs reading “Is my hair distracting you?” and “I stand with Tink.”
“I will be here at every board meeting,” Woodley said at the gathering. “I will fight to get all of the rules changed.”
One parent identified as Kambryn Cox, who faced a similar issue with the school board about her child, Kellan, said “My son came home, and said, ‘Mom, I think there’s something wrong with my hair.”
“With my son’s dreadlocks, sometimes they do fall in front of his face,” she added. “So I felt it would be easier to put his hair up, but then that’s a problem [too].”
Cox and Woodley plan to continue fighting until the rules are changed and hope their children learn from the experience.
“I teach him to be his own individual, and I don’t think he should ever feel insecure,” Cox said.
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