School board snips away at hair rules

Should students be limited in their hair style choices? What is unnatural hair? Those were the questions the Whitefish School Board wrestled with during its July 9 meeting when it came time to approve this year’s student handbooks.

“Are we still attached to having that (unnatural hair color) policy?” asked Trustee Heather Vrentas referencing the handbooks.

She pointed out that the board last year approved keeping the section of the handbooks that addresses hair with the intent that the section would be reviewed before the handbooks came back again. The policy says that unnatural hair colors and styles are academic distractions.

“A year went by and this hasn’t come up for discussion,” Vrentas said. “I feel like it isn’t in line with the district’s bigger goals. To call hair an academic distraction is not current anymore.”

Muldown Elementary, the middle and high schools all have similarly-worded policies pertaining to hair in their handbooks. In the past, school administrators have asked to continue using the language saying that it’s intended to keep the focus on academics.

Trustee Shawn Watts, pointing to his own shaved head, asked if his own hair would be considered unnatural.

“The policy is outdated, unnecessary and troublesome,” he said. “The problem with saying natural is that it gets dicey fairly quickly and it’s an unnecessary ambiguity we want to avoid.”

High school principal Kerry Drown said determining what is natural hair is not an exact science.

“The word unnatural is used quite a bit in school policies around the country,” he said.

“The purpose is to uphold expectations. We want a climate where academics is the focus.”

Middle school principal Josh Branstetter said choice of hair styles can become an issue of teasing among students.

“At some point bullying becomes an issue,” he said. “We’re trying to instill a cultural shift in the schools of being accepting. I would love to say it was going to happen, but I don’t know if it will ever happen (that everyone accepts each other).”

Trustee Shawn Tucker said that although he’s not fond of the policy, the district’s focus should be on education.

“You have to have rules in place to make sure things get done correctly,” he said. “Maybe the wording of the policy isn’t right. I’m all for being your own person, but we want to make sure it’s easy for teachers to educate the children.”

Trustee Dave Fern said if the board doesn’t believe in the hair section it should be removed or modified.

“If we have a policy the board won’t support it shouldn’t be there,” he noted. “If someone contested the policy, would we support it?”

The board agreed to work with administrators to modify the language of the hair policy and approve the new policy at its Aug. 13 meeting.

Vrentas said that the policy has impacts beyond the school district. To an outsider, she noted, the policy can make it seem like the school district doesn’t encourage kids to be creative and the district might not offer anything for those students that “are not cookie-cutter.”

“Our community needs to see what kids are really feeling and expressing,” she said.

Trustee Ruth Harrison said part of making sure students are ready for the world is making sure they know everyone is different.

“When do we start teaching tolerance?” she asked.