For greater than a month, Darryl George, a Black highschool scholar in Texas, spent every faculty day sitting by himself in punishment over his coiffure. This week, he was despatched to a separate disciplinary program, the place he is been informed he’ll spend a number of extra weeks away from classmates.

In an interview with The Related Press, George Stated he has felt discouraged about lacking out on his courses and time with the soccer workforce.

“I feel like I’m missing my full experience of being in the classroom,” George stated Thursday.

George, 18, was first pulled from the classroom at his Houston-area faculty in August after faculty officers stated his locs fell beneath his eyebrows and ear lobes and violated the district’s gown code. His household argues his coiffure doesn’t break any guidelines.

By the point George is allowed to return to Barbers Hill Excessive College in Mont Belvieu, Texas, in November, he could have missed 56 of 67 days of standard classroom instruction to start out his junior 12 months. The household has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging the state didn’t implement a brand new legislation outlawing discrimination based mostly on hairstyles.

However the Household Stated George is just not seeking to change colleges. They need to take a stand at a college that has clashed beforehand with different Black male college students over their hairstyles.

“We have to stand, and we have to let them know that, ‘No, Darryl’s not cutting his hair. No, Darryl is not going to let this go. No, you’re not going to run Ms. George and her family out of their neighborhood,’” stated Candice Matthews, a civil rights activist who is working as a spokesperson for the household.

After George spent weeks on in-school suspension, his household obtained a letter from the college principal referring him to the disciplinary program for the gown code violations and different transgressions: violating the tardy coverage, disrupting the in-school suspension classroom and never complying with faculty directives.

Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole stated Friday in an electronic mail to the AP that officers can not disclose the infractions that led to George’s present placement, nevertheless it was not due to his hair.

George’s mom, Darresha George, stated he as soon as used a profanity to precise frustration with the in-school suspension. The household stated George additionally has had two tardy violations. However they see the refusal to chop his hair as the foundation of the problem.

“They are retaliating and that’s all that this is,” stated Allie Booker, the household’s legal professional.

George on Thursday attended his first day on the disciplinary faculty, the place he sits in a cubicle and does schoolwork. He’s allowed breaks however should keep contained in the room. He is ready to work together with academics in this system, however he seems like he is falling behind.

“I’m just not learning what they’re trying to teach me,” he stated.

College techniques in Texas have broad discretion over which offenses can lead to college students being despatched to disciplinary various education schemes, stated Renuka Rege of Texas Appleseed, a social justice advocacy group. However she stated it could be uncommon for a scholar to be transferred over a gown code violation.

“If a district wants to be really, really harsh, then they can lay that out in their code of conduct,” Rege stated. “There’s a lot of districts here in Texas that still very much have a zero-tolerance mindset.”

Dress code and hair violations disproportionately affect students of color, said Ashley Sawyer, senior staff attorney at the Advancement Project, a civil rights advocacy organization. She said students are pressured to conform to standards that may not factor in their culture and heritage, such as wearing natural hair.

George’s family has filed two religious exemptions for his hair. One was denied and they are awaiting a response to their second request, Booker said.

Men in the family going back generations have had locs. The hairstyle has cultural and religious importance, Darresha George said.

Darryl’s mother said her son’s discipline is not just affecting him at school, but behind closed doors as well.

“Nobody can see the pain. Nobody can see the hurt. Nobody can see the tears. I have to see this. I have to see the way he gets up in the morning, the way he doesn’t want to endure the day. It weighs on me as his mother because I have to see my child go through this,” she stated by tears.

Darryl George said he hopes to return to how things were.

“I hope I can start being a kid again, start living my life, start playing football again and enjoy my year, my last few years in high school,” he said.

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Mumphrey reported from Phoenix and Ma reported from Washington D.C.

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