ACLU of Texas Finds 51 School Districts Likely Remain in Violation of the CROWN Act

HOUSTON – The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas today sent letters to 51 independent school districts across the state, which appear to still be in violation of the Texas CROWN Act in their 2023-2024 dress and grooming codes. The letters demand that the districts update their policies to comply with the law.

The Texas CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, was signed into law last year and prohibits schools, workplaces, and housing authorities from discriminating against hair textures or protective hairstyles commonly or historically associated with race such as afros, cornrows, braids or locs.

“All Texas school districts — including those that we have identified — must immediately comply with the Texas CROWN Act,” said Chloe Kempf (she/her), attorney at the ACLU of Texas. “Not only is it the law – but it’s essential for ensuring that students of color are free to be themselves and to express their racial and cultural identity at school. All students, no matter their race, religion, gender, or how they wear their hair, deserve to feel welcome at school, without the threat of discriminatory dress codes.”

In February, the ACLU of Texas published a dress code report titled “Dressed To Express: How Dress Codes Discriminate Against Texas Students and Must Be Changed,” which reviewed the 2022-2023 dress and grooming codes for nearly every district in the state. It found that overall, more than 80% of surveyed districts had vague hair policies that can disproportionately punish Black students and that 7% of those dress codes banned or restricted hair textures and styles associated with race, many of which are explicitly protected by the CROWN Act. The report also revealed many school districts had discriminatory policies that unequally targeted students based on gender, race, LGBTQIA+ identity, religion, disability, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Hair discrimination profiles, singles out, and disproportionately burdens Black people, Indigenous people, and other protected classes for wearing natural or protective styling intimately connected with their identities. Hair discrimination can profoundly affect Black and Indigenous students’ mobility and success by subjecting them to targeted bias and disciplinary action that causes them to miss out on instruction,” said Patricia Okonta (she/her), assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. “The bottom line is, any policy that forces students of color to forgo equal educational opportunities because they wear their hair in a way that displays pride in their racial heritage has no place in society.”

By sending out these letters, the ACLU of Texas warns these schools that they are likely discriminating against their students and leaving themselves vulnerable to legal or administrative challenges. The ACLU of Texas asks that the districts revise their policies for the 2024-2025 school year to ensure students’ constitutional right to self-expression and equal treatment are upheld. Texas communities are diverse — dress code policies should reflect this diversity.

The letters were co-signed by the following signatories:

• Equality Texas
• Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA)
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF)
• National Women’s Law Center (WLC)
• Native American Rights Fund (NARF)
• Sikh Coalition
• Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT)
• Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP)
• Texas Freedom Network (TFN)
• The Mahogany Project
• Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT)
• Young Leaders, Strong City (YLSC)

A copy of one of the letters is available here: https://www.aclutx.org/app/uploads/drupal/sites/default/files/aclutx_letter_to_harlingen_isd_1.pdf

A copy of the 2024 Dress Code Report is available here: https://www.aclutx.org/en/publications/dressed-express-how-dress-codes-discriminate-against-texas-students-and-must-be-changed

The following school districts received a letter:

• Advantage Academy
  • Superintendent responded saying they already updated their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Amigos Por Vida-Friends For Life Public Charter School
• Boling ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Borden County ISD
• Bovina ISD
• Calallen ISD
• Cisco ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Comstock ISD
• Cotton Center ISD
• Crawford ISD
• Devers ISD
• Douglass ISD
• Farwell ISD
• Floydada ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Harlingen ISD
• Huckabay ISD
• Ingram ISD
• Iola ISD
• Jim Ned CISD
• La Feria ISD
• La Villa ISD
  • District reportedly plans to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Latexo ISD
• Lingleville ISD
• Malone ISD
• Meadow ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Nazareth ISD
• Newman International Academy
• Panther Creek CISD*
• Paradise ISD
• Perrin-Whitt CISD
• Raymondville ISD
  • District has reportedly updated their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Robert Lee ISD
• Roby CISD
• Roma ISD
  • District reportedly plans to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Runge ISD
• Sabinal ISD
• Santa Anna ISD
• Santo ISD
• Simms ISD
• Sundown ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Tekoa Academy of Accelerated Studies*
  • District has reportedly updated their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Tolar ISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Walcott ISD
• Wheeler ISD
• White Deer ISD
• Whiteface CISD
  • Superintendent responded saying they plan to update their policies ahead of the upcoming school year.
• Whitharral ISD
• Wink-Loving ISD
• Winona ISD
• Winters ISD
• Zephyr ISD

*Note: We used their most recently published dress code prior to 2023-2024.