RED ROCK, Okla. (KFOR) — A family in Red Rock, Oklahoma, wants answers after their son, who is autistic and non-verbal, came home from school with his hair cut. The family said long hair is part of their Native American culture and they want to know what happened.
Rachelle Plumley dropped her 7-year-old son Asiah off at school last week and was told by her son’s special education teacher they would be working with scissors in class that day.
Plumley said she sent Asiah to school in a slicked back long braid, but he came back with bangs at the end of the day.
“When he walked in the door, we noticed obviously his hair was cut,” said Plumley. “A simple I’m sorry, or even a phone call would have helped and made me feel a lot better, but still nothing has been said.”
Because Asiah is nonverbal and autistic, they turned to his teacher to ask what happened.
“She said he went behind the teacher’s desk, just took the scissors, and cut his hair,” said Plumley. But Plumley doesn’t believe that story.
She said her son’s classroom has three teacher aides, and her son is required to have someone with him at all times.
“Even if he did do this to himself, I feel like the school is still held accountable for not paying attention and being there for my son that I’m trusting them to do everyday,” she said.
Plumley is thankful most of her son’s long hair is still there, but is sad to see part of it cut off.
“In Native American culture, it does represent strength and it means a lot to us and he wouldn’t have done this to himself,” said Plumley.
“We take a lot of pride in what we do here in Frontier about our Native American heritage as well as any other heritage we have,” Frontier Public Schools Superintendent Erron Kauk said. “But there was accusations that a student got their hair cut by a school employee. We took that very seriously and we checked into it and investigated. That did not happen.”
Kauk said he personally investigated the situation, as did an administrator and school resource officer. “I can’t go into detail on the student’s situation, but we did do a thorough investigation and a school employee did not cut a student’s hair,” Kauk said.
Plumley said she hadn’t heard from the school at all, but has a meeting with the superintendent Tuesday where she hopes to learn more.