We don’t allow long hair, Rusinga School tells court

A school that has been sued to allow a child with dreadlocks in class says it cannot do so because it is founded on “a jealously guarded Christian principle”.

In a response to the suit, Rusinga School’s Head of Preparatory Nelly Omino said since its inception in 1975, it has been consistent on Christian values and beliefs in its grooming policy, which she said all parents agree to before their children are admitted.

Last Friday, a woman sued the school and its board of governors seeking orders to compel them to allow her nine-year-old son with dreadlocked hair to attend classes.

She accused the institution of suspending the boy without requesting her in writing to cut her son’s hair.

She further claimed that the school’s orientation guidebook does not prohibit dreadlocks.

JAMAICAN CULTURE

The rule requiring the boy to cut his hair was unconstitutional, her lawyer told the court, arguing that the child had dreadlocks like his father, who is a Jamaican, and the boy’s older brother.

The hairstyle was part of the boy’s Jamaican culture, the lawyer told the court.

However, Ms Omino expressed doubt at the assertion.

“Not only am I unaware of any Jamaican culture of wearing dreadlocks, but I know that his father is an SDA and does not have dreadlocks,” she said in the filed response.

The older son too did not have dreadlocks, she added.

She said the boy was not suspended nor dismissed but was only excluded from the Preparatory School for not conforming with its code of conduct.

The pupil was not the only one who had been excluded from class due to “poor grooming”, according to the administrator.

Seven others were also sent back on the opening day of the current term for having hair that was longer than the prescribed length, but they returned the same day after complying, she said.

The hearing will be on Wednesday.