My daughter and I attended the school board meeting this evening. We sat through an hour of previously-scheduled agenda items, learned a bit about how the board works, and then had a few minutes to state our case for rescinding (or otherwise modifying) the existing “natural hair color only” policy. The board did seem quite sympathetic, but pointed out to us that we didn’t follow the correct protocol for addressing such an issue. Apparently we need to discuss the matter with the district superintendent (or the deputy), and if we still are not satisfied, THEN we can bring the issue to the school board. So we’ll try to schedule a meeting with the superintendent this week and have a discussion.
Also – FYI – you might catch a glimpse of her (or us) on KFBB (cable channel 9) on the 10:00 pm news tonight. And there were some other interesting things about the school board meeting unrelated to our issue — which I will detail later this week.
UPDATE – Tuesday morning: also a brief mention on KRTV news this morning, as well as coverage of a mother whose son was bullied at GFHS, and an election issue raised by Harvard student Travis Kavulla.
Thanks for the report…I’d wondered how you fared.
Isn’t it interesting that the folks we elect to represent us on the School Board can’t talk to you till you’ve battled the bureaucracy?
Hope to see your ‘rest of the story’ soon!
That is just “chain of command”.
Sorry to say with the superintendant looking to leave us … you may have to battle this for quite a while.
Did you keep your children’s school handbook from the beginning of the year? That may help with further actions as well.
Best of luck to you.
So is your daughter in or out of school, wearing a hat, cut off her hair, re-dyed, home schooling or what while you pursue this administratively? BTW, the text box runs off the screen for me to (IE 6.0).
As a former Montanan, this situation didn’t really surprise me, though it made me wonder if “natural hair color only” means the student’s natural hair color (ie no Clairol or Sun-In allowed), or just that students must sport a hair color found in nature? As you’ve probably already argued, I would wager that at least half the girls and a significant portion of the boys in most American high schools (likely including hers) are dyeing/highlighting their hair.
Good luck to you and your daughter – maybe in a few years she will dye her hair rainbow colors and run for the school board!
[...] Hair + Color: Resolution
by david @ 10:10 am. Filed under Education
(The Story So Far. ) My daughter and I met with Mr Kuntz, the superintendent for the middle/high schools, on Th [...]
[...] Kavulla (who I first encountered here) has launched a website for his campaign to be elected to the Public Service Commission. Go, [...]