(WAND) – A school policy could keep a black teenager from Texas from walking in his high school graduation ceremony. The school said he must cut his dreadlocks to meet the school district’s dress code.
DeAndre Arnold, is a senior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, a school about 30 miles east of Houston. He told NBC affiliate KPRC that his hair had followed the rules until recently after he refused to cut his dreadlocks.
Arnold’s father is from Trinidad and he said he’s been wearing dreadlocks for years to honor the culture. He said he’s always followed the dress code by tying up his air.
"I really like that part of Trinidadian culture," he told the station. "So, I mean I really embrace that."
According to DeAndre’s mother, the school district changed their dress code in reference to hair. Now the rules say, “hair must be clean and well groomed” and can’t extend on male students, at any time, below the eyebrows, the ear lobes or the top of a T-shirt collar.
"They say that even though my hair is up and I follow all of the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code," DeAndre Arnold told KPRC. "Not that I'm out of dress code, but if I was to take it down, I would be out of dress code, which doesn't make any sense. I don't take it down at school."
Now that the rules have changed it will keep DeAndre from walking in graduation and attending school.
Sandy said, “this is his belief." "This is a part of who he is. This is his culture. This is what we believe."
On Wednesday, Houston Texans wide receiver Deandre Hopkins tweeted his support for the teen, urging him to "never cut" his dreadlocks.
Never cut your locks Deandre Arnold.
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) January 22, 2020
In a statement posted on its Twitter account, the district said that it does allow dreadlocks. "However, we DO have a community supported hair length policy & have had for decades," the statement said. "BH is a State leader with high expectations in ALL areas!"
According to a statement posted on the districts website they would allow “any legally religious or medical exemptions.”
"We will continue to be a child-centered district that seeks to maximize the potential of EVERY child," he continued. "Local control is sacred to this country, and we will NOT be bullied or intimidated by outside influences," the letter reads.
NBC News contributed to this report.
