Michigan Father Removes Biracial Daughter From School After Student And Teacher Cut Her Hair

A father took his biracial child out of school after a student, and a school staff worker cut his daughter’s hair.

On March 24, 7-year-old Jurnee came home from school with one side of her hair cut shorter, her father, Jimmy Hoffmeyer, told USA Today. He’d learned that a student cut the child’s hair, and to fix it, he took the girl to a salon where they shaped it up to match the other side of her head. A few days passed, and Jurnee came home once again cut, but this time, with her hair cut short on the other side. This time around, it was cut by a school employee.

“She was crying. She was afraid of getting in trouble for getting her hair cut,” the father told the Associated Press. “I asked what happened and said, ‘I thought I told you no child should ever cut your hair,'” he said. “She said, ‘but dad, it was the teacher.’ The teacher cut her hair to even it out.”

Hoffmeyer called the child’s school – Mount Pleasant School District – several times until the district’s superintendent, Jennifer Verleger, finally answered. Her resolution to the situation was to give Jurnee a written apology. “An apology card to a 7-year-old who is humiliated and has to be around her classmates like this?” Hoffmeyer told the outlet.

The father said that he didn’t want to bring race into the matter but said, “It’s hard to come to any decision when you don’t have answers to why it was done.” “I still want to know what justifies a teacher cutting a child’s hair without their parents’ permission? Any of this could have been resolved with a phone call,” Hoffmeyer added. “She doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her hair.”

On Wednesday, the school issued a statement about the incident. “At Mount Pleasant Public Schools, we strive to ensure all our students can learn and achieve in an inclusive, safe environment free from harassment, discrimination, bigotry, or intolerance,” said Verleger. “We work hard each day to foster a culture of respect, compassion, and kindness, so all our students, families, staff, and visitors feel welcome and supported.”

It was later revealed that Jurnee “grew unhappy and dissatisfied with the way her hair looked after the other student cut it and asked a school library employee to help fix her hair during a classroom visit to the library” and the employee “agreed to even out the student’s hair to make her feel better.”

Nevertheless, the superintendent said the act should have never happened without the parents knowing. “Regardless of their good intentions, these actions are unacceptable and show a lack of judgment on the part of our two employees,” the statement said. “Both employees have admitted their actions and apologized. Both are being reviewed for further disciplinary actions in accordance with our school policies and procedures. I have personally apologized to the family on behalf of the school district.”