A metro Houston teenager who was suspended from school for refusing to cut his dreadlocks has urged a judge to let him go back to that school so he can spend his senior year “like a normal teenage student” while his case drags on through court.
The student, Darryl George, 18, wants a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order to clear his return to Barbers Hill High School — and to prevent district officials from further punishing him for not cutting his locs. If the judge agrees, George could return to the school while the lawsuit he filed against the Barbers Hill School District proceeds.
The teen’s request comes after District Judge Jeffrey Brown in August dismissed most of the claims George t and his mother made against the Barbers Hill School District. They alleged the district committed racial and gender discrimination against George when they chose to suspend him.
Brown allowed only the gender discrimination claim stand, but questioned whether the school district’s hair rules causes more harm than good.
Two other students challenged the Barbers Hill’s hair policy back in May 2020. Both of those students withdrew from the high school, but one returned after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction, saying there was “a substantial likelihood” that his free-speech and anti-discrimination rights to free speech would be violated if he was barred. That lawsuit is still ongoing.
The district continues to defend its dress code policy, arguing they are meant to “teach grooming and hygiene, instill discipline, prevent disruption, avoid safety hazards and teach respect for authority.”
In an affidavit filed last month, George urged Brown to please help us so that I can attend school like a normal teenage student during the pendency of this litigation.” Brown has scheduled a hearing for the case Tuesday in Galveston.
The district continues to argue that George’s hair — which he typically wears in twists and braided on top of his head — violates their dress code because it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows or earlobes if he let it down. The district has said other students with locs comply with the length policy.
Allie Booker, one of George’s attorneys, said in court filings last week that the student was “forced to unenroll” from Barbers Hill and transfer to another school in a different Houston-area district. That’s because Barbers Hill officials placed him on in-school suspension on the first and second day of the new school year. Booker said the forceful removal of George caused her client “significant emotional distress, ultimately leading to a nervous breakdown.” As a result, they had no choice but to remove him from the school.
George’s departure “was not a matter of choice but of survival,” but he wishes to return because of the quality of the district’s schools, Booker said.
During his junior year, George was kept out of his regular high school classes for most of the 2023-24 school year for violating its dress code. He was forced to either serve in-school suspension or spend time at an off-site disciplinary program if he did not cut his hair.
The federal lawsuit lays out how his punishment violates the CROWN Act, a recent state law Texas picked up prohibiting race-based discrimination of hair.
The CROWN Act, which was already a heated topic both in schools and among professionals, was a discussion before the heated dispute over George’s hair in September 2023. The act bars employers and schools from punishing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.
In February, a state judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by the school district that its punishment does not violate the CROWN Act.
