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An
amendment to Senate Bill 817 would prohibit school district
dress code policies from applying to hairstyles, including
"hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or
hair texture, including, but not limited to, protective
hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists," according to the
text of the amendment. School districts that violate the
provisions of the measure would risk losing out on
Evidence-Based Funding dollars from the state.
“The schools that do not comply would be subject to withholdings
of EBF or Evidence-Based Funding,” State Sen. Mike Simmons said.
The monetary punishment was the reason for debates among
lawmakers in the Senate, with many of them disagreeing with
provision to withhold funding.
While many of the members agree with the changing of dress code
policies, many do not want to withhold funding from schools that
could be low-income, to begin with.
State Sen. Melinda Bush said that she “completely agrees with
the bill, it’s a great bill and I hope it passes, there is some
concern though about the funding mechanism and using EBF as a
punishment.”
For SB817 to advance, Senate members would have to come together
on a possible punishment other than withholding EBF dollars for
schools that do not comply.
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