When will this kid catch a break? After missing nearly all of his junior year because he refused to cut his locks shorter, Darryl George still won’t be allowed to return to Barbers Hill High School in Belvieu, Texas.
Over the weekend, George’s attorneys asked a U.S. District judge to issue a temporary restraining order that would block Barbers Hill school district from punishing him if he returned to campus to take classes while he continues fighting for a federal lawsuit against his school district, the district superintendent, his principal, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to the Associated Press.
However, his request was denied by Judge Jeffrey Brown on Friday, the same day George turned 19 years old.
This comes just a month after Judge Brown dismissed most of George’s claims that school officials were discriminating against him because of his race, and only let the allegation of gender-based discrimination stand due to the district’s lack of clarity on why girls could have long hair but not boys.
Ironically, George was initially suspended the same week Texas’ CROWN Act, a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, went into effect in May 2023.
As a result, George and his family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Barbers Hill school district and other state officials, alleging that the suspension of the then-17-year-old was a violation of the state’s law.
The Barbers Hill Independent School District’s dress code specifically states, “Male students’ hair will not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes. Male students’ hair must not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.”
In short, the locks themselves are not considered a violation — the length of his hair is. In response, George would tie his hair in a ponytail, but it was still considered a violation of district policy.