LELAND, NC (WWAY) — One mom in the Cape Fear is not sure where her son will be going to school after his spring break because of a policy she says discriminates against their culture.
Ashley Lomboy’s son, Logan, is a first grader at Classical Charter School of Leland. For the past 18 months, Lomboy has been putting Logan’s long hair in a bun to comply with the school’s requirements of keeping hair off the collar and ears.
On February 20th, Lomboy says school officials told her husband that the interpretation of the word “faddish” in the handbook had been changed to include buns, meaning her son’s hairstyle was now deemed in violation of the school’s grooming standards for boys and his hair had to be cut before he returned from spring break on March 29.
As members of the Waccamaw Siouan tribe, hair is a significant part of their culture.
“[Logan] understands it’s what gives him his extra power being an indigenous person,” Lomboy said. “He also understands his significance wearing his regalia as he wears headpieces that connect into his hair and you can really see whenever we do that whenever we wear his braids that he understands that is important.”
After calling the school and explaining the significance of boys wearing long hair in Native American culture, Lomboy says she was instructed to file a grievance with the school regarding the policy. She filed it and it was denied a little more than a week ago with no explanation. However, she isn’t giving up the fight just yet and neither is the community.
In addition to overwhelming community support, Lomboy says the Waccamaw Siouan and Lumbee tribes have signed resolutions supporting Logan and explaining the cultural significance of his hair.
The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the school claiming the school’s policy violates Logan’s first amendment rights, infringes on his personal liberties, and discriminates against his gender and race.
If Lomboy does not receive a favorable response from the school before the 29th, she says she will be taking both of her children out of the school and enrolling them in public school which she says will be a difficult conversation to have with her children.
“Telling them they can’t be who they are and attend school, this school particularly. They’re not wanted, they’re not wanted there and they can’t be their full self and that’s not the message I want to have sent to my children,” she said.
WWAY reached out to the Classical Charter School of Leland on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. We finally heard back via email on Wednesday morning. That response can be viewed HERE.