Last Updated on October 23, 2015 – 10:08 AM CDT
Above: Dumas ISD Board Trustees, Brandon Skipworth, left and Brent Clark consider a Level III grievance filed by the parents of a DHS student who wants to play football but whose hair length doesn’t comply with the athletic handbook regulations. The board voted unanimously to deny the grievance.
The parents of a Dumas High School student whose hair length doesn’t comply with the athletic handbook regulations exhausted their last appeal Monday when the DISD Board of Trustees voted to deny the Level III grievance.
The student’s father, David Erlenbach, attended the meeting, and the board went into executive session to discuss the grievance with him. During the board’s deliberations, Erlenbach stepped out of the boardroom. When the meeting was opened to the public, the board voted unanimously to deny the grievance.
The Level III grievance is the last one a student or parent can file with the district. Level I is directed to the school’s principal. If it isn’t resolved at that level, a Level II grievance is filed with the superintendant. Level III grievances are filed with the district’s board of trustees.
The student has asked to play football without cutting his hair, but the male policy stated in the DISD Athletic Conduct states, “Mustaches only, no beards or goatees are permitted. Hair will be out of the eyes and off the collar and not below the air lobe. Ponytails, Mohawks, multi-color hair, etc. are not permitted.”
The Moore County Journal filed a Freedom of Information Request with DISD, asking for a copy of the Level III complaint the student’s parents filed but has not yet received it.