Teen Suspended From School for Dyeing Her Hair Red

A charter school in Chicago apparently has a zero-tolerance rule when it comes to hair color.

Chicago Bulls College Prep has suspended freshman student Daisy Chavero for showing up to class with her hair dyed an “unnatural” shade of red, according to DNAinfo.com. Chavero’s hair was colored by her mother, Angie Chavero, who used a box dye, marketed as “dark auburn,” according to the site.

The teen’s mom is outraged at the school’s reaction to her daughter’s dye job, telling DNAinfo, “It’s ridiculous. Supposedly, it’s a distraction to the classroom.” A Noble Network Charter Schools spokesperson said in a statement, “Artificial red hair of any kind is not permitted,” and that dyed hair can only be a “natural human hair color,” according to a pre-existing policy, which parents or guardians sign in acknowledgement at the start of the school year.

But mom Angie doesn’t feel her daughter has violated the policy. She told the site that, although Daisy’s hair came out lighter than expected, she didn’t interpret the shade as unnatural. “To me, when they say red, I think someone who dyed their hair bleach blond and then red. That’s what artificial red means to me. It’s not fire hydrant red,” she told the site.

The mom even tried to color correct her daughter’s hair, which resulted in Daisy’s hair becoming a “dark brown with faint auburn highlights.”

Regardless, it was not enough to meet the school’s strict demands. Daisy, who has received one detention date because of her hair color, is currently not allowed in class with the rest of her peers and has been relegated to studying in an in-school suspension setting, DNAinfo reports. Once her hair is dyed back to a suitable shade, she can return to class.

However, Daisy’s mom told DNAinfo that her daughter has a learning disability, which entitles her, under federal law, to an Individualized Education Plan at her school. This means the school must provide her with special education services, and Angie views the in-school suspension as a violation of her daughter’s rights. “The school is not providing [Daisy] the free and appropriate public education with supports and services to which she is entitled,” a spokesperson for the Chavero family told the publication.

Getting in trouble at school is new for Daisy to boot. Despite her learning disability, she maintains a 3.5 GPA and has never had any disciplinary problems, Angie tells DNAinfo. She calls the penalty “ridiculous” considering her daughter’s otherwise pristine record and says the move has left her daughter upset. As a mother of five, Angie adds that she cannot afford to dye her daughter’s hair again at the moment. She told the publication that school representatives told her to take Daisy to a professional for color correction. “I don’t have that kind of money,” Angie said.

While Angie claims that Chicago Bulls College Prep is “unfairly targeting her daughter,” the school claims that Daisy is being treated just as any other student who violates school policy would be. “This policy is applied consistently across the student body at Bulls College Prep,” a school spokesman said in a statement.

Yahoo Beauty reached out to Wendy Erskine, the principal of Chicago Bulls College Prep, for comment but has yet to hear back.

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