CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The mother of a 12-year-old middle school student is calling Ricardo Independent School District to make changes to their hair policy.
Sarah Scafuri's said her son was not allowed in school because the length of his hair violates school policy.
“They have these rules that are just outdated and unnecessary,” Scafuri said. "My son should be able to receive an education — we were really excited about him going back to school."
The first day of school came Thursday and the middle schooler is waiting to be back on campus. This family has gone through this ordeal before, starting in elementary.
"They really didn’t pursue the issue, with the elementary school it wasn’t until he progressed into fifth grade and started at the middle school that they began giving him a hard time,” said Scafuri.
Ricardo ISD hair policy states that boys 'sideburns' and the back of the hair may not extend beyond the fleshy part of the earlobe.'
“There’s been too many people around me that just said ‘well, why don’t you just comply, is it really worth fighting for?’ Yes, it is worth fighting for, that’s my son’s hair,” Scafuri said.
On Monday, she filed a complaint with the school district.
Scafuri was told by the district's office that Superindentent Gina Garza would review her complaint and reach out with a hearing date. She feels like she is running out of options.
“He has cried about this many times because he doesn’t understand why he’s being treated unfairly; he hasn’t been able to return to school with all of his friends that he has at that school now and he’ll be forced to go to a different school or home-schooled at this point because those are our only options," said Scafuri.
KRIS 6 News reached out to the district’s office, but has not heard back on this case.
