A request by a Black student seeking to return to his Texas school after being punished over his hairstyle has been denied by a federal judge.
Through his lawyers, Darryl George sought a court order that would have enabled him to return to his high school without fear of resuming his previous punishment for his hairstyle.
The 19-year-old wanted to re-enroll at his Houston-area high school in the Barbers Hill School District after leaving at the start of his senior year in August because district officials were set to continue punishing him for not cutting his hair. George had spent nearly all of his junior year serving in-school suspension due to his hairstyle.
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The district has argued that George’s long hair, which he wears in tied and twisted locs atop his head, violates its policy because, if let down, it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows, or earlobes.
Determined to fight for justice, George asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown in Galveston to issue a temporary restraining order that would prevent district officials from further punishing him if he returned while a federal lawsuit he filed was pending.
However, his request was denied in a ruling issued late Friday afternoon. The judge stated that George and his lawyers had waited too long to ask for the order.
This request came after Judge Brown dismissed most of the claims that George and his mother had filed in their federal lawsuit, alleging that school district officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they punished him. The only claim that remained was the one regarding gender discrimination.
According to the ruling, the likelihood of the school district prevailing in the remaining lawsuit also contributed to Judge Brown denying George’s request for a temporary restraining order.
Unfortunately, this latest ruling coincided with George’s 19th birthday on Friday.
Allie Booker, an attorney for George, and a spokesperson for the Barbers Hill School District have yet to respond to inquiries regarding the new ruling.
In his defense, George’s lawyer argued that he left Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and transferred to another high school in a different Houston-area district after suffering a nervous breakdown over the thought of facing another year of punishment.
Since George was no longer a student in the district, attorneys for the school district argued in a court document filed this week that he did not have legal standing to request the restraining order.
The district also defended its dress code, asserting that its policies are meant to “teach grooming and hygiene, instill discipline, prevent disruption, avoid safety hazards, and teach respect for authority.”
George’s federal lawsuit further alleged that his punishment violates the CROWN Act, a recent state law prohibiting race-based discrimination regarding hair. The CROWN Act, which took effect in September 2023, bars employers and schools from penalizing individuals based on hair texture or protective hairstyles, including Afros, braids, locs, twists, or Bantu knots.
Despite this, a state judge ruled in February, in a lawsuit filed by the school district, that its punishment does not violate the CROWN Act.
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