A student’s parents are suing Texas school administrators for coloring in a hair design on a Black student’s head. The Houston Chronicle reports the 13-year-old student went to Berry Miller Junior High in April with an “M″ shaved on his head. Three administrators told the student he could call his mother, receive a disciplinary action or color the design in with a marker.
The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed Sunday, says administrators laughed as they used a permanent marker to color the boy’s scalp. The lawsuit says the boy was “immensely humiliated and shamed.” The parents’ attorney, Randall Kallinen, says the lawsuit names the Pearland Independent School District, school Principal Tony Barcelona, discipline clerk Helen Day and teacher Jeanette Peterson as defendants.
The parents are seeking compensation and want district employees to receive training. The district has not responded legally to the lawsuit but at the time of the incident, said that an administrator “mishandled” the situation.
