Haircut dispute with son’s school raises Belmont mom’s hackles

A Belmont mother filed a federal discrimination complaint against her 5-year-old son’s former school, saying he was singled out and not allowed to sport a popular hairstyle because he is black.

Mariana Broussard said that in December — a day before a class Christmas party and the day of a concert her son spent three weeks preparing for — Jalyn cried because officials at the Catholic school, Immaculate Heart of Mary, wouldn’t let him attend without getting rid of his short “fade” haircut, in which the hair is longer on top than on the sides.

A fade is a hairstyle popular among African American boys, and Jalyn’s mother said a handful of non-black students at the school wore similar styles without punishment.

[...] Larry Kamer, a spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, said the school disputes the accuracy of some claims in the complaint.

“Catholic schools value and teach respect of individuals as whole people,” Kamer said.

According to Broussard, when Jalyn walked into school, the principal initially complimented him and his brother — who had a fully shaved head — on their new haircuts.

Thirty minutes later, though, she said the school called her and asked her to pick up Jalyn because a teacher said his hair was in a “faux hawk,” which violated school policy.

After months of confusion over whether the Office for Civil Rights had jurisdiction over the Catholic school, she said, she filed a complaint after lawyers informed her that the school received federal funds through the No Child Left Behind Act.

[...] the boys attend a public school — and Jalyn’s fade is back.