Pearland student told she can't wear hijab without note: parents

PEARLAND, Texas (KTRK) -- Some parents of Pearland ISD students believe there is a discrimination problem at their schools.

They spoke to the school board at a meeting Tuesday night.

Seventh grader Juelz Trice made national headlines after an administrator forced him to use permanent marker to cover a line cut into his hair in April. Now, another incident has occurred.

RELATED: Family 'disappointed' after administrator drew on boy's head for violating dress code

The administrator reportedly told the boy his haircut was out of dress code, and he would be punished unless he had it filled in with a marker.

Luciana Brady-Henderson said she received a call from an administrator telling her that her 14-year-old daughter couldn't wear her hijab without a note from a religious leader.

"It just seemed illogical to me and I was willing to take my daughter out of school," she said.

Her daughter has worn a head covering since the fourth grade, and said she was surprised by the call.

Brady-Henderson didn't send a note then and said her daughter hasn't faced any more questions, but other parents are banding together saying these incidents point to a larger problem.

Other parents point to the incongruent number of minority children facing punishment for dress code violations.

For now, parents are asking for the policy to be changed to allow head covering for religious reasons.

The school board couldn't respond to the comments Tuesday due to open meeting laws, but parents like Dona Kim Murphy said they'd be surprised if they get a response at all.

"That's kind of their M.O.," she said. "They don't respond, they don't answer when we ask them questions."

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