Gang bangs?

Talk about a bad hair day.

Officials at Biggs High School recently suspended two special-education students for wearing their hair in a way that the administrators say implies that the students are gang members. One student’s grandmother said that the school refuses to allow the kids back in school until they cut their hair, which is short in the front and sides and longer in the back. So far, both kids have refused.

The trouble apparently started when an officer from the Gridley Police Department, who was visiting the school on an unrelated matter, remarked to a school administrator that the hairstyle of a student he saw was one that has become popular among gang members, Biggs High School Principal Ralph Vandro said.

Shortly thereafter, the school ran an item in an Oct. 2 newsletter saying that “students (males) wearing ponytails or patches of hair in the front or back of their heads represent gang attire.” The newsletter was circulated in the morning, and by that afternoon two kids had been called into the front office and reprimanded by the principal and two police officers. Both students were sent home that day.

Caroline Smith, whose grandson was suspended, said the school gave no prior notice before the suspension was carried out and did not call to let her know there was a problem. Although her family had understood it to be a one-day suspension, her grandson was told when he tried to return to school that he would not be welcome until he cut his hair.

The 16-year-old, who is not being identified due to his age, said he is not in a gang and sees no reason why he should change his hairstyle. He is in the special-education program because he has eye problems and attention deficit disorder.

“Why should I have to cut it? Is there a law for how you wear your hair?” he asked. “I just want to go back to school. I don’t like it, but I want to graduate with the rest of my class. [The haircut] doesn’t mean anything.”

Attempts to reach the other student and his family were unsuccessful.

Smith, who often takes care of her grandson because she lives close to Biggs High, said she was more upset by the way the school handled the situation than anything else. She alleges that the school violated its own policy and possibly state law by not notifying her family when her grandson was sent home. Smith said she has contacted several lawyers and may sue the school district if it doesn’t allow her grandson back in.

She has fought in the past with the district over her grandson’s education plan, a mandatory document that details how teachers will deal with special-education students.

“He hasn’t had an IEP [individual education plan] in four years,” she said. “I think they’re discriminating against special-ed kids.”

Principal Vandro said that was not the case. “[The student] was told to modify his appearance as our policy says,” Vandro stated, adding that attempts were made to contact both students’ families. When asked if the school dress code specifically outlawed the hairstyle in question, Vandro said the school reserves the discretion to modify its policies as needed. When asked to describe the hairstyle, Vandro refused.

After referring several times to hairstyles that he said could be considered gang-related, Vandro added that the school was not accusing either student of being in a gang. Before terminating the call, he claimed he had never referred to a gang-related haircut and amended his statement to say “the hairpiece was inappropriate.”

The district’s superintendent, Dr. Lee Funk, was unreachable for comment.