Black student suspended a day before state’s hairstyle rules change

School alleged a variety of infractions, including breaking a regulation about ‘grooming’

Darryl George and his mother, Darresha George, talk to reporters (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A Black Texas teen has been kicked out of his school after a month-long suspension for alleged infractions that included breaking an almost-expired rule about hairstyles.

Darryl George, 18, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, will be moved to an alternative program for students with disciplinary issues through 29 November, according to a notice sent to Mr George’s mother, Darresha George, and obtained by NPR. The teen will be allowed to return to class at Barbers Hill on November 30, according to the notice.

The notice, which was written by the school’s principal, Lance Murphy, alleged “multiple infractions of campus and classroom rules”, including “disruption of the in-school classroom, failure to comply with directives from staff/administration, violation of tardy policy, and violation of the dress and grooming policy.”

The Independent reached out to a Barbers Hill Independent School District spokesperson, David Bloom, who insisted that Mr George’s hair, which he wears in various Afrocentric styles, had nothing to do with his removal: “The student did NOT get placed in his current disciplinary placement because of his hair. Confidentiality does not allow us to disclose the infractions that caused his current disciplinary placement but it was unequivocally not because of his hair.”

The Independent then asked whether there had been any discussions around changing the grooming code, to which Mr Bloom replied: “No.”

The Independent has also reached out to the Georges’ lawyer. Last month, the teen and his mother filed a lawsuit in federal court against Governor Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the school district and others.

The 23 September complaint accuses the defendants of violating the CROWN (Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Act of Texas. Mr George was suspended one day before the law went into effect.

The school “district administrators discipline students who violate the dress and grooming code as those administrators deem appropriate. … Unfortunately, the disparate impact of the enforcement of their dress and grooming code is against black males with locs, braids, twists, and protective styles,” the filing reads.

The school district, which is about 30 miles east of Houston, then filed a lawsuit in state court asking for clarification over the CROWN Act. “Although we believe the new law does not govern hair length, we are asking the judicial system of Texas to interpret,” Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole told the Associated Press at the time.