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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Kindergarten hair war

?A kindergarten student with a freshly spiked Mohawk has been suspended from school,? reports ABCNEWS.COM. ?Surely,? query you Dear Readers, ?You must mean a kindergarten student with a gun? or drugs? or who cracked open someone?s head with a blunt instrument?? No, no, gentle BoardBuzzers, you read correctly: The school suspended little Bryan Ruda for the offense of sporting a funky hair cut. (And, for the record, BoardBuzz saw the photograph of the 6-year-old offender, and, well, it was NOT spiked.) Even so, ??[t]he school said the hair was a distraction for other students [and] violate[d] the school's policy on being properly groomed,? school Principal Linda Geyer said.? Bryan?s mom, whose love for the avant garde apparently extends to decorative children?s hairstyles, was outraged by the schools decision, saying that while she understands the school has a dress code, "They can't tell me how I can cut his hair." Well, apparently, they can, and they did. ?The school district's dress code allows school officials to forbid anything that interferes with the conduct of education.? But, if, Dear Readers, you surmise there?s more hair (ahem) than meets the eyes, you would be correct: This latest skirmish appears to be only one of several incidents in the quest for individuality between little Bryan?s mother and school officials in the Kindergarten Hair War at Parma Community School. ?An administrator at the suburban Cleveland charter school first warned [the mom] last fall that the haircut wasn't acceptable. The school later sent another warning letter to her reiterating the ban.? Wait, they sent a letter, too? And, she still didn?t get it? Talk about sacrificing for your art . . . er, hair. That school finally lost its religion last week, when little Bryan?s ?freshly shorn? hair caused a sensation of sorts and disturbed the general mirth. Now the mom is changing little Bryan?s school rather that changing his hairstyle. What?!!! BoardBuzz is all about individuality, but we must admit that the choices some parents make are hard for us to sort out.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on February 27, 2008 (boomark / email).