Teen Kicked Out of School For Hair Color


Rylee MacKay has been dying her hair auburn for the past six months—since school started in the fall. But on February 4th, her middle school’s vice principal kicked her out of class because he said her hair violated the school’s dress code, which states that “Hair, including beards, mustaches and sideburns, should be groomed so that it is neat and clean. Hair color must be a naturally occurring color; i.e. red, brown, black, blonde.”

Auburn, a reddish brown, was apparently outside of that dress code, at least for this touch up. Vice principle Jan Goodwin saw Rylee in the halls and told her to go to the office. Her recently touched up hair didn’t look natural enough to Goodwin.

“In the light he said it was pinkish-purplish,” Rylee said to KUTV. “He told me to have it fixed by the next day or I couldn’t come back to school.”

Both Rylee and her mother refused to dye her hair back to brown. Amy MacKay, her mother said that she wouldn’t force her daughter to change her hair color. “My daughter feels beautiful with the red hair. Changing her hair really changed her; she really blossomed,” she said. “And now I have to say, ‘No, sorry, you have to dye it brown?’ I’m not going to change it back.”

Because there isn’t a specific palette to go by, MacKay argues that the district’s policy on hair color is far too volatile and subjective. The school district, of course, disagrees.

“We deal with dress code issues nearly every day, specifically hair issues maybe once per week,” said HMS’s principal, Dr. Roy Hoyt. “Most of the time it is a judgment call for the administration… This student’s hair did not meet the expectation of naturally colored hair. We apply this standard consistently to all students and nearly every parent is supportive.”

After four days of intensive washing, Rylee’s hair finally faded enough to go back to school. Hoyt explained that the behavioral expectation is in compliance with the small conservative community in which HMS resides.

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post