The Lincoln training board adopts the state’s dress code to support student beliefs.

The policy was prompted by legislation passed earlier this year that intends to protect Nebraska students from discrimination for wearing attire or their hair in a way that aligns with their religious or cultural beliefs. 

The dress code doesn’t allow Nebraska school districts to prohibit a student from wearing attire associated with their race, national origin or religion, such as tribal regalia, burkas, hijabs, head wraps, Jewish skullcaps, a cross or other adornments. School staff also can’t alter a student’s attire or hair without permission from a parent.

Protective hairstyles are also covered under the policy, including braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, afros, weaves and wigs.

Local school boards will be required to adopt a written dress code and grooming policy consistent with the model by July 1, 2025.

The legislation that prompted the new policy was introduced after a north-Central Nebraska school district was ordered through a federal lawsuit last fall to pay a Lakota family $227,500 after a school employee cut their children’s hair without parent permission and against the family’s religious beliefs.

At Friday’s meeting, Cora Njuguna, a parent from Aurora, said she supported the policy but asked members to consider implementing more guidelines around how school districts enforce the policy because many guidelines can be discriminatory.

“My oldest son is going to be moving up to Aurora Middle School this fall and I would say the dress code there is problematic, to say the least,” Njuguna said. “When I take the policy as a whole, it’s clear to me that Aurora’s dress code — which has been mostly unchanged since the ’90s — appears to be centered around one thing and that is ensuring that our local students don’t spoil our community’s reputation and tradition of excellence by adopting fashions that are stereotypically Black.”

A 2022 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that most school dress codes contain rules about students’ hair, hair styles and head coverings, which may disproportionately impact Black students and those of certain religions and cultures.

Student handbooks on the Aurora district website have lengthy rules around dress code and student appearance. The district prohibits “bagging and sagging pants,” oversized clothing, wallet chains, wigs, hairnets and hairpieces. The middle school handbook says such attire could create “the potential for an interruption of a safe and orderly learning environment.”

“It’s almost like they watched all the episodes of ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ and wrote down anything ever worn and said ‘don’t come with that,'” Njuguna said.

The district also prohibits hair coloring that isn’t “the natural colors of black, auburn, blonde or brown.” The elementary handbook says students with other hair colors will be sent to the office, where the school nurse will attempt to wash the color from the hair. If it can’t be removed this way, the student’s parents will be contacted and the student will be sent home until their hair color follows the guideline.

The new statewide policy prohibits school districts from making students miss substantial class time because of their appearance. 

It also restricts any attire that promotes alcohol, drugs, profanity, violence or hate speech. Board member Sherry Jones said she wished the term “hate speech” included more information because it’s too broad of a term.

“I believe this could be problematic for schools and schools might need to develop a definition of hate speech. Determining something is hate speech is rather subjective,” Jones said. “I’m not condoning hurtful words or anything, that’s just some of my thoughts.”

Jacquelyn Morrison was the sole board member to vote against the policy because of the way it’s written, she said. 

“I think it’s written in a very permissive way, kind of telling schools what they can’t do — I think we could be more prescriptive,” Morrison said. “I don’t know, it seems a little — I don’t want to say political — there’s just a lot in there that I’m not sure is doing what the Legislature is asking us to do.”