Posted on 02/27/2008 4:56:15 AM PST by E Rocc
PARMA, Ohio -- A kindergarten student with a freshly spiked Mohawk haircut has been suspended by school authorities who said the hair was a distraction for other students.
Michelle Barile, the mother of 6-year-old Bryan Ruda, said nothing in the Parma Community School handbook prohibits the haircut, characterized by closely shaved sides with a strip of prominent hair on top.
"I understand they have a dress code. I understand he has a uniform. But this is total discrimination," she said. "They can't tell me how I can cut his hair."
An administrator at the suburban Cleveland charter school first warned Barile last fall that the haircut wasn't acceptable. The school later sent another warning to her reiterating the ban.
Mohawks violate the school's policy on being properly groomed, school Principal Linda Geyer said. Also, the school district's dress code doesn't mention Mohawks, but it does allow school officials to forbid anything that interferes with the conduct of education.
Ruda's hair became a disruption on Thursday when Ruda arrived freshly shorn, Geyer said. Administrators called Barile on Friday telling her to pick Ruda up from school.
"This was his third infraction," Geyer said Tuesday. "We felt that we were being extremely patient."
Rather than request a hearing to appeal the suspension, Barile said she'll enroll him at another school. Changing the hairstyle is not an option, she said.
"It's something that he really likes," Barile said. "When people hear Mohawk, they think it's long, it's spiked, it's crazy looking, and it's really not."
He’s in a charter school, not a public one.
That doesn’t look any different than a Marines “High & Tight” to me except there’s bangs.
Folks who find a Mohawk haircut “offensive” really should return to their own continent ~
That explains a lot.
And the State MUST correct such behavior!
Yes.
A charter school is a publicly funded private school. The parents choose to send their children because of the education they are given there.
They are strict, the kids have a dress code and much is expected of them. They parents have a choice to send the kids there and most who do, WANT to follow the rules.
Most parents with kids in the school would agree that this kid should be tossed. When I was a charter school parent, I knew that if I didn’t follow the rules, there were 20 kids waiting to take my daughter’s place. No joke.
That's right lady, teach him that the rules don't apply to him.
You’re missing the point. No, it is not a Zone. No one is stuck there. The mother made a choice and most likely signed a contract. She has a choice to follow the rules or leave.
Parents choose these schools because of the military type atmosphere. Note the word “choose”.
We can argue the merits of uniformity in education. There is one school of thought that uniformity eliminates distraction and conflict and enhances the educational environment. There is another which holds that that is all BS. I don't really know.
But it appears that this particular school has a policy of uniformity, enforced by the requirement of uniforms and appearance codes. Parents realize this going in. If they are going to have a problem with it, they should consider other options. If it is important to this particular mother that her Precious Little Snowflake stand out in a crowd and be permitted to display his unique special-ness through dress and appearance, she is right to put him in a different school.
Craziness.
Our educators can’t teach math and science to compete in the international economy, but will go after a mohawk haircut. I live in a football oriented small town, and both schools’ kids always have mohawks during football season.
Absolutely ridiculous.
>>The case in fact is that many schools, like many FR threads, are full of folks who seek control for the sake of control. For many, being an ed-du-cah-tor is a head trip.<<
OMG. It’s a Charter School. Like a private school. The parent knows the rules and most times CHOOSES it for the control factor. It’s not a head trip. She CHOSE to put her kid in there then when it wasn’t to her liking, sent him back to the District School. I bet the other parents were relieved.
When my daughter was in a Charter, some other parent thinking they were above the rules, ticked me off.
A charter school IS a public school. Charter schools are still publically funded and under the administration of public education personnel. The difference between charter schools and regular government schools is that charter schools have relaxed regulations in some areas in exchange for the promise of enhanced educational results, the specifics usually being laid out in the school's charter.
I don't understand the publicly funded private school concept. Why are charter schools created? And do the parents still have to pay?
Especially the ones that are SO worried about what other people's kids are doing.
Yup. It’s a charter school on top of it all. They can do what they want.
And frankly, if she’s been getting notes since the Fall, I have little sympathy for her not somehow working it out.
Yes it is a Public School but the states grant them the ability to set rules and regulations approved by the state. This school’s dress code was such. The parent also agreed when she put her kid in there.
I worked for MAPSA here in MI. It’s The Michigan Association of Public School Academies. In other words, charters.
We called our schools Charter Schools and the others District Schools.
I think the problem is the little boy's haircut frightens the girls ~ and right there is the biggest problem in America when it comes to schools ~ they are not separately organized by sex.
And look how he turned out!
Yeah, I wonder what the position is on bedhead. Get a life, people!
“Changing the hairstyle is not an option, she said.”
And this is a ridiculous, ludicrous, bull-headed statement.
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