Border town school cuts student’s hair

Amyrah and Madeline had their hair allegedly cut during school hours as school officials searched for head lice at Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools.

PIERRE – A woman claims her daughter’s hair was cut at the elementary school she attends to check for lice. This was done without permission, and against school policy.
Alice Johnson-Leroy has been living in Kilgore, NE, for the past thirty years. Kilgore is a border town located just across the Nebraska state line, south of the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Johnson-Leroy herself attended the Cody Kilgore Unified School as a child and says this is where she wants to raise her children and put them through school. Married to wife, Norma, for the past four years, together the couple have four children; Kyla Starboy is 14 years old, Amyrah Starboy is 10 years old, Madelyn Leroy is 6 years old, and Alissandra is 4 years old.
According to Johnson-Leroy, she has had very little problems in the past with the school, or school officials. “We have experienced little troubles but always talked them over with the superintendent. I always felt like he took care of the problems,” she said. “There are very few Native students in the school, I have another niece and nephew in the school and there is one other student who is Native American.”
The long-time Kilgore resident says there are approximated 160 students in the school district and 8 are tribal members. “I’ve always felt racism is strong in this border town but I’ve never said anything about it because this is my home and I never wanted to believe it was racist. Like when we go to school events, people smile and talk to us but when we sit in the bleachers, whatever area we sit in, we are always the only ones in that area.” The family is aware of this marginalization but does not give it much attention or acknowledgement. “When I was in school, kids would ask me about Lakota names and make fun of our names. To me it has always been normal because this is where I grew up.”
During two recent trips to Rapid City to attend a birthday and short trip away from Nebraska, the family stayed at a popular water park. The first trip was during the weekend of Feb. 21st. Following the trip to the Black Hills town, the kids returned to school on the following Monday. That afternoon, the school secretary, Maryanne Logterman, had called to inform the parents their daughter, Madelyn, had had head lice. Johnson-Leroy claims the school secretary had thought the head lice had come from being at the water park in Rapid City.
“Norma picked Madelyn up from school and cleaned her head. That day, Amyrah came home and told me that Marvanne had head checks in the kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 4th grade classes,” she said. “At first I thought, ‘Is she targeting our kids?’ because she only checked their classes for head lice. We got Maddi cleaned out and sent her back to school February 27th. That following weekend, we went back to Watiki Water Park for a birthday party.”
Once again upon returning from Rapid City, the school secretary had called Johnson-Leroy to inform her that her daughter, Amyrah, had also had head lice. The mother claims the school official had said they school had a ‘fun day planned’ and that her child could stay in school if she wanted to. “Amyrah was a little embarrassed and chose to come home. I looked in Amyrah’s head and found no signs of headlice,” she said.
During that evening, Johnson-Leroy said the family was at her mother’s residence when she overheard her daughter and niece talking. Her daughter was allegedly asked, ‘Amyrah, did Maryanne cut your hair too?’. This is when the mother intervened and the two girls told them the school secretary cuts their hair. This is done in order to search for lice, according to Johnson-Leroy.
“I was a little confused. Norma called the superintendent Adam Lambert and told him what happened and we would appreciate if she (Maryanne Logterman) wouldn’t cut their hair anymore. He said he would talk to her. We sent Amyrah back to school Wednesday,” she said. That morning about 11 a.m., Marvanne called me and said, ‘Alice I had to cut Amyrah’s hair because of head lice’. Johnson-Leroy claims she told the school secretary to stop cutting her children’s hair. She was informed this was necessary to determine if it was head lice or not.
“I said, ‘It’s our traditional way to not cut our hair, unless for ceremonial purposes. STOP CUTTING THEIR HAIR!’.” The mother informed the school official she was out of town at the doctor’s office and would be in to pick her child up upon returning. When she picked her daughter, Amyrah, up from school. She was in a stocking cap and the daughter claimed she had been sitting in the front hallway of the school for five hours. According to Johnson-Leroy, this was a type of quarantine. “We once again called Adam Lambert (superintendent) and told him again stop cutting their hair, she said.
The school policy for the Cody-Kilgore Unified Schools states, “Head Lice Students found to have live head lice or louse eggs will not be permitted at school and will be sent home. Upon discovering the presence of any indication of lice or louse eggs the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s) will be notified, and if appropriate will be asked to pick up the student from school immediately. Students will not be permitted to return to school until the district finds that no live lice or eggs can be detected. The parent(s) or guardian(s) will be required to treat the student and accompany the student to school to be examined. The student cannot ride the school bus until the district has cleared the student to return to school.”
The school policy does not state staff would cut student’s hair to identify head lice. According to the mother, “They pinch the hair in the area around the said lice and use a scissor to cut the area around the lice. They could be cutting 5-10 hairs in one area.”
“My daughter already suffers from PTSD. When something affects her, she will shut down. She gets very easily embarrassed. Thursday after they cut her hair, I took her to see her counselor and he was surprised at how calm Amyrah is because she isn’t a calm child n these types of situations. but because of PTSD, she shuts down and won’t talk about what bothers her the most. She cries at night now because she’s scared. This morning she cried and said she didn’t want to go to school,” said Johnson-Leroy.
When the daughter was brought home, her head was thoroughly inspected and no lice or eggs were found. Still, she treated her head for lice and went through it with a lice comb. She claims no lice were found. “When I asked Marvanne if I could have their hair back, she said no that she had to keep the hair. She had each strand of hair taped to a white paper and refused to give us the hair back.”
The child was permitted to return to school, and the child’s hair was cut for a second time, according to Johnson-Leroy.
“I have reached out to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) of Lincoln and retained legal action be taken. I have also contacted Cherry County Sheriff’s Office and Nebraska Child Protection Services. My daughter’s hair is a part of her body and there are laws that prohibit school staff members touching a student’s body. My niece and daughter’s rights have been violated,” she said. “I want everyone to know what happened. I want my daughters story heard.”
There is no written record of these incidents, as Johnson-Leroy says things happened so quickly and she never formally “had time to write it up.” She states all communication were done over the phone. “However, there is a school board meeting tonight (3/9/20) where I do have a written letter to the school board members, and the Nebraska Board of Education.”
Johnson-Leroy says her daughter is hurt and embarrassed over the whole situation. She feels the school could have handled the incidents much differently and in a way that did not violate her children’s rights. “I really just hope that they will employ people of color and cultures, that all staff be culturally trained when dealing with Native American students. The school secretary should be reprimanded for her actions. Even bigger, I want laws to be placed to protect Native American students from enduring hair cuttings in school. This is something that has been done to our people since boarding school days and still to this day their cutting our hair,” she said.