Danny and Drew Smith have always had their hair cut in a "cowboy cut" - short in the front and long in the back. This year they have a new hairstyle - thanks to a districtwide dress code.
Their mother, Sandra Smith, said she was told by the elementary school principal that her sons had to have their hair cut above their collars or be punished with in-school suspension."I couldn't let them pay the price," she said. "It more or less is my choice that their hair is long."
The recent decision by the South Summit School District to enforce the dress code has sparked a heated debate among local residents. Parents of the students affected by the hair-length provision have responded with a variety of actions ranging from complying with the regulations to removing their children from the district.
The district's dress code states that male students must have their hair cut above their shirt collars, out of their eyes and neatly trimmed.
The dress code was the subject of an opinion poll conducted by a BYU professor at the School Board's request. The survey was administered to parents and students of the district earlier this summer, said Blake Ostler, an attorney for the school district.
Ostler spoke on behalf of the district, which has been threatened with litigation over the issue of hair length.
The School Board used survey results to rewrite the district's dress code to include shorts and enforce the hair-length provision.
"The (School) Board found that hair length was relevant, and if hair was too long, it tended to disrupt the educational process," Ostler said.
The hair-length provision has been part of the dress code for years, said Ostler. According to the survey, 53 percent of those who participated opted to keep it.
Sam Chapman says he's been an honor student for as long as he can remember. "It didn't have any effect on me - I kept my grades up," said the former South Summit High student, who added that students were told to cut their hair or they would be kicked out of school.
Ostler said no student has been dismissed from school for not complying with the dress code.
Chapman refused to cut his hair and was placed on in-school suspension at South Summit High last week. Chapman instead has decided to live with his grandparents in Salt Lake City and attend Granite High.
"We were told to either cut our hair or get out, so I got out," Chapman said, adding that in-school suspension consists of reading a book in a room alone. "In my opinion that's not an education - that's prison," he said.
Ostler said in-school suspension consists of initially attending the regular class long enough to get assignments and instructions, and then completing those assignments in a classroom with a teacher's aide.
Mayrann Chapman, the boy's mother, said she supports her son's decision to attend school in another district. "It's really frustrating as a parent, but I don't want to see him lose his right to an education. It's silly to see a kid lose an education because of three inches of hair. It's just not right."
Granite, Salt Lake and Jordan school districts all have dress codes, but none regulate the length of hair.
Rustin Crawford, 15, was also told to cut his hair. He refused and has since been suspended for an incident that occurred at an Aug. 24 school dance. He and another student were physically removed from a dance.
Shannon Wright, Crawford's mother, says her son was accused of starting a riot at the dance and has been suspended for 10 days. She says her son was picked up by the throat and thrown on the ground outside. The other teen who was thrown out injured his foot and is suing the school, Wright said.
She said that in the two weeks school has been in session, Crawford has attended only a half-day. Students who don't comply with the hair code are harassed by teachers and administrators, she said.
"The harassment is getting terrible," she said, adding that her son was kicked out of school for talking to a television reporter.
But despite harassment, Wright says, she won't cut her son's hair. "I won't cut it. If it comes down to it, I will put him in another school district."
She also said she wasn't mailed a survey questionnaire. Smith participated in the survey and voted to change the dress code.
Most of those who are opposed to the hair policy say it is outdated and takes away their freedom of choice.
Ostler says the School Board represents and expresses the values of the community - and has a right to do so.
Wright, Smith and others plan to attend a School Board meeting Thursday, Sept. 12, and voice their disapproval of the code.