NEW ORLEANS – The parents of two school children who were singled out and forced to leave school due to their hair have dropped a lawsuit against the school.
The lawsuit was filed after the two sixth grade students at Christ the King school in Terrytown were sent home because one had braids in her hair and the other had extensions.
According to the lawsuit, both children, who are African-American, were harassed at school over their hairstyles and given reprimand letters that had to be signed by their parents.
School administrators said the school has a new policy for students to have only “natural” hair.
One of the students’ parents had to provide a doctor’s note about her child’s medical hair loss condition and agree to cut the extensions to the nape of the neck.
The other student’s mother talked with school administrators and agreed to restyle her daughter’s hair so that the braids wouldn’t extend beyond her shoulders, according to the lawsuit.
One student’s family posted an Instagram video of the crying sixth-grader, which quickly went viral and made headlines across the country.
The lawsuit accused Christ the King of discrimination over its new policy and said the policy had “a disparate impact on the African American female population of students at Christ the King.”
Further details of the lawsuit and the reason it was dropped today have not yet been released.