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Students show support for senior disciplined after talent show

Multi-colored hair may be coming to Parker Junior High School.

School officials are proposing an end to the ban on “unnaturally colored hair,” Parker Principal David Kennedy said at Monday’s Flossmoor District 161 school board committee meeting.

However, it’s unlikely that extreme colored hair will be allowed in kindergarten through fifth grade in District 161. Chad Prosen, principal of Western Avenue School, said the proposed student handbook for the district’s four elementary buildings prohibits “outlandish” haircuts that can disrupt the classroom.

Kennedy and Prosen presented suggested changes to the student handbooks, which are available online to district students and parents. The District 161 school board must approve the new handbooks before changes in the document become effective.

There are separate handbooks for Parker and the elementary buildings.

The current Parker handbook, approved last summer, has 61 pages and includes myriad information, from the school song to the academic calendar to behavior policies for the lunchroom and bus.  It outlines discipline measures, the dress code, “iPad citizenship,” student records, sports and after-school activities, medication, student illness and much more.

The present Parker hair policy, on Page 55 of the handbook, states “unnaturally colored hair and outlandish haircuts are not allowed in school.”

Kennedy said the proposed change in hair color policy followed meetings with Parker parents, teachers and other staff members. He said he believes junior high students are mature enough to deal with different shades of hair color.

“A lot of our kids do have colored hair,” he said.

Meanwhile, a hair policy is expected to remain in place in the elementary grades. The current handbook prohibits “colored hair or outlandish haircuts that disrupt the learning environment.” The proposed handbook only includes a reference to outlandish haircuts.

Some hair coloring is not seen as disruptive, Prosen said. For example, some students have put a streak of pink in their hair without any consequences.

Kennedy and Prosen discussed other proposed changes to the handbooks.

Hoverboards will not be permitted in the elementary schools, Prosen said.

At Parker, students can bring skateboards to school but they must be stored in their lockers during classes. Cell phones are to be turned off during the school day, and also stored in lockers.

Students are not allowed to wear ear buds or headphones during passing periods.

Lunches can be delivered to Parker but students must eat them in the school office. Kennedy said students can bring in restaurant food – for instance a Subway sandwich – at the beginning of the day and eat it in the lunchroom.

The policy on delivered food is designed to discourage such practices, Kennedy said.

“We don’t want a lot of food delivered to the school,” he said.

Again, all the changes in the handbook must be approved by the District 161 board of education, which is likely to vote on the document at the July 11 regular meeting. 

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