NEW ORLEANS -- A southeast Texas school district asked a federal appeals court to throw out a ruling that its enforcement of a grooming policy violated the rights of a kindergarten student who refuses to cut his hair for religious reasons.
In January, a federal judge in Houston barred the Needville Independent School District from disciplining the boy, a 5-year-old of Native American descent, for wearing his 13-inch hair in two long braids outside his shirt.
The boy’s parents say he has a constitutional right to wear a hairstyle that conforms to his Native American religious beliefs. The district says it has a right to enforce its grooming policy.
A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard agreements Friday. The panel did not indicate when they would ruled.
