Sawyer student can't go to school because of hair.
Read more: Local, Education, Community, Pink Hair, Kicked out, Sawyer, School
SAWYER -- An 11-year-old Marquette County girl is wondering why she was kicked out of school for having pink hair. The Gwinn district's Sawyer Elementary student was told by school administrators not to come back until her hair is a normal color again.
Fifth grader Natasha Rzanca says she always wanted pink hair. Her mother didn't mind, but her school did.
"When everyone else went out for recess, I had to go to homework lab,” said Natasha, “and I was doing my work and they called me down and they said I had to get my belongings and come down to the office because I was leaving for the day."
That was over a week and a half ago, and she still hasn't been allowed back.
Now Natasha does her schoolwork at home. She's been told she hasn't been suspended. Natasha's mom says her case is being treated like head lice, and that once her hair is back to a normal color, Natasha has been told she can go back to school.
"They say that it's interrupting the educational process, but she's gotten several compliments from teachers, other school personnel, students,” said Natasha’s mother, Hiedi Rzanca. “And the only disruption in the educational process is them removing her from school."
But school administrators say the district's policy is that unusual hair colors, at elementary age, are a distraction. So Natasha can't go back to Sawyer Elementary until the pink is out.
Gwinn Area Community School's Superintendent Michael Maino refused to comment about this individual case. But he says the district's guidelines are clear for elementary school.
"At the fifth grade level, everyone knows it's difficult enough to maintain order and discipline without having outside sources come in and cause disruptions in a classroom," said Maino.
As for Natasha and her mother, they may take legal action. And although she doesn't want to, if nothing else works, Natasha says she'll dye her hair back to brown if it means she can go back to school.
