ANAHUAC, Texas — A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial will take place next month to determine whether a black high school student in Texas can be punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle that he and his family say is protected by a new state law.
Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular classroom at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu since August 31. Instead, he either served an in-school suspension or spent time in an off-site disciplinary program.
His Houston-area school district, Barbers Hill, has said that George’s long hair, which he wears in neatly tied and twisted locks on his head, violates the district’s dress code that limits hair length for boys. The district has said other students with locomotives are following the height policy.
George, a junior, said Wednesday that he has felt stress and frustration over what he sees as an unfair punishment, but was grateful he would soon get his day in court.
“I am happy that we are also being heard. I’m glad things are going well and we’re going to get through this,” George said after the hearing in Anahuac, as his mother, Darresha George, stood next to him.
State District Judge Chap Cain III in Anahuac set a trial Feb. 22 in a lawsuit filed by the school district over whether dress codes limiting the length of boys’ hair violate the CROWN Act. Texas’ new law, which went into effect in September, bans hair discrimination based on race and prohibits employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles, including afros, braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.
Darresha George said she was disappointed the judge had not considered issuing a temporary restraining order, which would have suspended her son’s sentence until next month’s trial.
“I have a son who is 18 years old, who wants to go to school, who wants to get his education, and you are all arguing with him. Why?” she said.
In an affidavit filed last week in support of the temporary restraining order, Darryl George said he is being subjected to “cruel treatment.”
“I love my hair, it is sacred and it is my strength,” George wrote. “All I want is to go to school and be a model student. I am harassed by school officials and treated like a dog.”
A spokesperson for the school district did not speak to reporters after the hearing and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In a paid advertisement that appeared in the Houston Chronicle this month, Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole claimed the district is not violating the CROWN Act.
In the ad, Poole defended his district’s policies, writing that districts with a traditional dress code are safer and have better academic performance and that “being American requires conformity.”
“We will not lose sight of our main goal – high standards for our students – by bowing to political pressure or responding to misinformed media reports. These entities have “lesser” goals that ultimately harm children,” Poole wrote.
The two Texas lawmakers who co-wrote the state’s version of the CROWN Act — state Reps. Rhetta Bowers and Ron Reynolds — attended Wednesday’s hearing and said the new state law protects Darryl George’s haircut.
The district “is punishing Darryl George for one reason: his choice to wear his hair in a protective manner that does not harm anyone and does not cause a distraction in the classroom,” Bowers said.
George’s family has also filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with the school district, claiming they failed to enforce the CROWN Act to force. The lawsuit is before a federal judge in Galveston, Texas.
Barbers Hill’s policy on student hair was previously challenged in a federal lawsuit filed by two other students in May 2020. Both students withdrew from high school, but one returned after a federal judge issued a temporary injunction, saying the student showed “a substantial likelihood” that his rights to freedom of expression and freedom from racial discrimination would be violated if he would not return. to campus. That lawsuit remains pending.
___
Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70