Native American Family Upset After Son Comes Home From School With Haircut

A Native American family in Oklahoma is upset after their 7-year-old son came home from school last week with his hair cut.

Red Rock resident Rachelle Plumley says when she dropped off her son Asiah at school, he had traditional Native American long hair. But when he returned home that day, the boy – who’s autistic and non-verbal – was sporting short hair with bangs. “When he walked in the door, we noticed obviously his hair was cut,” Plumley says. “A simple ‘I’m sorry,’ or even a phone call would have helped and made me feel a lot better, but still nothing has been said.”

When Plumley went to Asiah’s teacher for answers, she was told, “He went behind the teacher’s desk, just took the scissors, and cut his hair.” But Plumley – who notes in addition to three teacher’s aides in the classroom, Asiah has a helper at his side all day – says she doesn’t believe the account. “Even if he did do this to himself, I feel like the school is still held accountable for not paying attention,” she says.

KSN says the Superintendent responded, “We take a lot of pride in what we do here in Frontier about our Native American heritage as well as any other heritage we have,” Frontier Public Schools Superintendent Erron Kauk said. “But there was accusations that a student got their hair cut by a school employee. We took that very seriously and we checked into it and investigated. That did not happen.”