AUSTIN, Texas —
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas (ACLU) recently published a report on discriminatory dress codes in the state.
The report looked at dress codes for about 97% of school districts in Texas and stated that about half of K-12 school districts have discriminatory dress codes and grooming policies.
The ACLU report says many of those codes and policies target students based on gender, race, religion and other factors. It also says that about 60% of the dress codes ban dress and hairstyles that target Black students.
The ACLU first conducted the study in 2020 and found about 477 schools had boys-only hair lengths, so the organization sent those schools letters with recommendations for changes.
When the ACLU conducted the report again for the 2022-23 school year, that number was down to 242.
Caro Achar, one of the co-authors of the report and the Policy and Advocacy Engagement Coordinator for the ACLU of Texas, said that will make a difference for impacted students.
"The immediate harm is the stigma that students feel, is the shame that they feel, is, oftentimes, the society that they can develop based on the fact that they're continually being punished for showing up as themselves," Achar said.
When it comes to local districts' dress code language, Hays CISD and Pflugerville ISD both had hair policies that mention hair should be neat, clean and not distracting. The ACLU report says that language leaves too much up in the air.
"Any time they say words like 'modesty' or ... 'well-kept,' a lot of times, even though that word itself is not inherently discriminatory, the way that it gets applied is oftentimes discriminatory," Achar said.
KVUE reached out to Hays CISD and Pflugerville ISD Monday morning to see if either district had addressed the points brought up by the ACLU of Texas report. This article will be updated if we receive responses.
On March 18, Hays CISD released a statement regarding the district's dress code, which stated the following:
"Hays CISD appreciates, understands, and supports parents and students regarding freedom of personal expression and individuality. The district has no interest in abridging any expression of individualism, except in certain rare instances where safety or potential educational disruption could occur. Current general guidance includes the prohibition of wearing or display of pictures, writings, images, or symbols that: 1) are lewd, vulgar, sexually-explicit, or obscene; 2) seek to demonstrate or recruit gang membership; 3) are discriminatory, harassing, or threatening towards others on the basis of their race, sex, disability, ethnicity, religion, or gender (including, but not limited to, display of the confederate flag); or 4) advertise or promote tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, drugs, or any other substance prohibited by policy.
Specifically, regarding hair – the district standpoint is that trying to enforce strict hair standards often interferes with the rights of individuals to express themselves. Hays CISD allows hair of any length, style, or color. The district does have hair safety standards in place for students around shop equipment or in culinary arts, for example. Students operating heavy machinery may be required to tie up or pull back hair so that it doesn’t get caught in the equipment. And, students working in the commercial culinary kitchens on campus would be required to wear hair nets. Additionally, the district has in place public health rules and standards should lice show up at a campus.
The district’s full dress code is an ever-evolving guiding tool that, in combination with laws and cultural norms, has bended the past half-century toward supporting greater freedoms than in decades past. In fact, the district is reviewing dress code policy and language this semester to further refine, streamline, and centralize uniform districtwide dress code guidance. The goal in that endeavor is to continue to reduce the time and burdens placed on teachers having to enforce dress code – distracting them from the mission of educating students. Additionally, the central focus is keeping kids in class, not being sent home or to the office for dress code violations. Though not specifically about Hays CISD, the new report by the ACLU Texas will be of great help to the district as it explores further refining dress code language and implementation. The district looks forward to reading the report in-depth; but at first glance, the report recommendations appear to be in alignment with what the district continuously strives to achieve."
KVUE also checked Austin ISD and Round Rock ISD dress codes, but we didn't see any mention of hairstyles.
Learn more about the report and how to search the language in more school districts' codes and policies.