Long Hair Stirring Controversy at CISD

A father and his teenage son are battling for a hands-off hair policy in the Clint Independent School District. The high school student’s long hair is rubbing district officials the wrong way and, this year, he said he is refusing to chop off his long locks. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all,” Jacob “Lone Star” Chacon said. “I think I should be able to be who I am.” Chacon will be a junior at Mountain View High School. His dark brown hair falls right at his shoulders; he’s been growing it out since the end of this past school year. “It can’t be below the ear. It can’t go beyond the eyebrow,” Chacon said. “It’s only for guys too. Girls can have bangs put to the side, you know, it doesn’t matter.” The moment his dark hair grazes his collar, district policy mandates he chop it off. Jacob’s father, Ernesto “Red Cloud” Chacon said he has had long hair all his life, except when his mother died. “When we mourn, we cut our hair off,” Ernesto Chacon said. “Now it’s taking away from him, if my family or if I pass away, he won’t be able to do that.” District officials released the following statement: “Clint ISD respects the cultural and religious beliefs of our students. Clint ISD dress and grooming rules do allow for an exemption to the district’s established standards, if such exemption request is made in writing.” The Chacon’s said they were never given that explanation. “They never told us that,” Chacon said. “They just said, ‘Cut your hair, cut your hair, cut your hair.'”