MALDEN, MASS. (WHDH) - Protesters gathered at a local school Sunday as officials held a meeting about a controversial hair policy.
A packed room reacted in unison as the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Board of Trustees took their business behind closed doors. The stunned silence was quickly broken by chants of “let them learn.”
For Mya and Deanna Cook, the meeting was going to be their chance to voice their frustration against a school they say punished them for expressing their heritage. The two girls received detention and were suspended from extracurricular activities for hair extensions, which violate the school’s handbook.
Attorney General Maura Healey’s office wrote a letter to to the school on Friday saying its dress code appears to violate laws against racial discrimination.
The board members made a unanimous decision Sunday to suspend the hair section of the uniform policy. A spokesperson made the following statement.
“The Mystic Valley Regional Charter School Board of Trustees unanimously voted tonight to suspend the hair section of the uniform policy for the remainder of the school year. The school will continue to work with the Attorney General’s office to ensure that the uniform policy reflects our long standing to the rights of all of our students. Students who are either currently serving consequences or accruing them, may immediately resume all before and after school activities. All of these actions are effective immediately.”
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