DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) – A Dauphin County mother plans to speak with lawmakers after an incident involving her son’s hair at a private school in the county.
Stephanie Robles wants the CROWN Act passed, but says she won’t stop after learning about past incidents involving the same school and her hair.
Read more | Parents sue Harrisburg school for cutting 20 inches of 8-year-old daughter’s hair
“At the end of the day, hair shouldn’t be a barrier to getting an education,” Robles said.
In the case of Robles’ son Josiah, his hair became a hot topic when he was enrolled at St. Margaret Mary School.
Five-year-old Josiah proudly wears his long hair, which he grows for a purpose.
“My motivation for keeping his hair long is so I can donate money to make wigs for cancer patients,” Robles said.
Robles never thought for a moment of cutting her son’s hair to meet the school’s standards.
I received the following email from the school.
Mrs. Cantos told me that she spoke with you when you enrolled Josiah in kindergarten and told him that he needed a haircut before the school year started. He has to cut his hair because he violates the student dress code.
“I had an idea. I braided his hair and had the girl pin up the rest of his hair, tucking it in so it wouldn’t look like he had long hair. ” Robles said.
This style was not yet accepted in the eyes of the school. The school sent her an email saying, “He cannot come to school after today. This is another violation,” and Ms. Robles subsequently withdrew her two children from the school. Little did she expect that the Department of Children and Youth Services and law enforcement would soon reach out.
“Mrs. Cantos called the police saying she feared for her life,” Robles said.
Robles believes a now-deleted social media post may have been the cause of police intervention.
“The post was something along the lines of, ‘Parents be careful sending their children to St. Paul’s.’ Margaret Mary. If you have a child with long hair or are considering St. Margaret Mary’s. If so, you would think so,” Robles said.
In a statement from the Diocese of Harrisburg, they told CBS 21, “The mother was fully informed on July 31 of the school’s policy to limit hair length for male students.”
“When I looked at the membership handbook, it said first through eighth grade. Josiah is in kindergarten,” Stephanie said.
The diocese went on to say that it “takes all threats against our schools seriously.”
“I never made any threats,” Robles said.
Instead, Robles wants to bring about change in Pennsylvania and pass King’s Law.
“By the hair, are you going to try to take my child away from me? If I had been a lazy mother, that might have been the case, but I am not. I’m going to fight for it,” Robles said.
If St. Margret Mary’s school sounds familiar, that’s because it’s not the first time we’ve talked about it.
Back in April, we told you about a lawsuit against a private school after a piece of Velcro clipped a girl’s hair.
The lawsuit noted that the student’s naturally long hair is an important part of her culture.
