ANAUAC, Texas (AP) – A judge on Wednesday ordered a trial next month to determine whether A black high school student in Texas may continue to be penalized 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 Aug. 31. Instead, he was either suspended from school or spent time in an out-of-school disciplinary program.
His Houston-area school district, Barbers Hill, said George’s long hair, which he wears in neatly tied and twisted strands on top of his head, violates the district’s dress code, which limits hair length for boys. The district said other students with locs follow the length policy.
George, Jr., said Wednesday that he has been stressed and frustrated by what he sees as an unfair sentence, but that he is grateful he will soon get his day in court.
“And I’m glad they’re hearing us. I’m glad things are moving and we’re getting through this,” George said after the hearing in Anawak, his mother Daresha George standing by his side.
Daryl George, an 18-year-old high school student, and his mother Daresha George stand in court in Anawaque, Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. A judge on Wednesday ordered a trial next month to determine whether George can continue to be punished by his district for refusing to change his hairstyle, which he and his family say is protected by a new state law. (AP Photo/Juan A. Lozano)
State District Judge Chap Cain III in Anawak has set a trial for Feb. 22 in a lawsuit filed by the school district over whether dress code restrictions limiting boys’ hair length violate the Crown Act. The new Texas law, which took effect in September, prohibits 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.
Daresha George said she was disappointed the judge did not consider issuing a temporary restraining order that would have stayed her son’s punishment until his trial next month.
“I have a son, 18 years old, who wants to go to school, who wants to get his education, and you are messing with him. Why?” she said.
In an affidavit filed last week in support of the temporary restraining order, Daryl George said he was subjected to “brutal treatment.”
“I love my hair, it is sacred and my strength,” George wrote. “All I want is to go to school and be a model student. School officials bully me and treat me like a dog.
A school district spokesman did not speak to reporters after the hearing and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In a paid ad that ran this month in the Houston Chronicle, Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole argued that the district is not violating the CROWN Act.
In the ad, Poole defended his district’s policy and wrote that districts with a traditional dress code are safer and have higher academic achievement and that “being an American requires conformity.”
“We will not lose sight of the primary goal — high standards for our students — by bowing to political pressure or responding to misinformed media reports. These entities have ‘smaller’ goals that ultimately harm children,” Poole wrote.
The two Texas lawmakers who co-authored the state’s version of the CROWN law — state Reps. Retta Bowers and Ron Reynolds — attended Wednesday’s hearing and said the new state law protects Darryl George’s hairstyle.
The district is “punishing Darryl George for one reason: his choice to wear his hair in a protective style that doesn’t harm anyone or cause a classroom distraction,” Bowers said.
George’s family is also submitted formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with the school district, alleging they failed to enforce the CROWN Act. The case is before a federal judge in Galveston, Texas.
Barbers Hill’s policy on student hairstyles was previously challenged in a May 2020 federal lawsuit filed by two other students. Both students withdrew from the high school, but one returned after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order saying the student showed a “substantial likelihood” that his rights to free speech and to be free from racial discrimination would be violated. if he is not allowed to return to campus. This case remains pending.
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