SAN ANTONIO – At the start of a new school year, an updated hair policy is drawing questions about what will happen when Judson ISD students walk through the front doors.
The district’s school board updated the districts’ student hair policy this summer.
Parents and advocate say, they’re not against student hygiene. Instead, they’re more worried about the policy’s language — which they believe could cause more distraction than it’s meant to.
The words “clean and neat” have some Judson ISD parents raising their eyebrows when it comes to the district’s newly-updated hair policy.
It says: “Hair must be neat and clean; hairstyles and/or hair colors that are considered by school administration to be distracting and/or disruptive to the educational environment are prohibited.”
“There’s a chance that it could be problematic just depending on how it’s enforced,” said one parent who’d like to stay anonymous.
Her feelings about the change are clear.
“I feel like this new policy has a chance of being more distracting and harmful than it has of being helpful and creating an educational environment that is free of distraction,” she said.
Judson ISD’s student handbook for the 2025-26 school year calls for student hair to be “groomed appropriately” and not a distraction to the work environment.
While the language isn’t specific, parents feel the updated version leaves too much room for interpretation; especially for black students who may choose to wear more ‘cultural’ hairstyles like braids or locs.
“Clean and neat is one of those those things that’s very subjective because by whose standards are we saying is clean and neat, right?,” the mother said.
One Judson ISD school board member raised the same question during a meeting on june 23..
“You could feasibly have a student that a teacher doesn’t consider distracting and another classroom that does,” Trustee Laura Stanford asked. “So how are we drawing that line? How are we making that determination?”
“The change was made so that it could be at the discretion of the adminstrator based on how the student is groomed,” a staff member answered.
“The big problem that we’re going to run into is the same reason that things like the CROWN act were created because our hair is just very, very different,” the concerned mother said.
The ‘Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair’ (CROWN) Act was signed into law in Texas in 2023. It bans race-based discrimination.
While there have been no reports of such discrimination, we spoke to Adjoa B. Asamoah, who championed the act, about the threats she fought to keep at bay.
“Nobody is free from bias,” she said. “The challenge that I have with changing language is not inherently because of change, but you should question the intent.”
We reached out to Judson ISD to ask that very question.
Officials sent us a statement saying the dress code is reviewed through a “collaborative process” adding that the district values “stakeholder engagement” and “feedback from students, families, staff and community members”.
We followed up twice, asking more specific questions about the district’s vision for changing the policy. We also asked about any plans to avoid the isolation of any students.
We have yet to hear back.
FULL STATEMENT:
Judson ISD reviews its Student Dress Code annually through a collaborative process designed to gather input from a wide range of stakeholders. Each year, proposed dress code revisions are shared with campus administrators, teachers, parents, and students to provide opportunities for feedback, clarification, and recommendations.
Feedback received through this process is reviewed by district leadership and cabinet members before any proposed changes are presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration and approval.
The district also seeks student input through the Judson ISD Superintendent Student Advisory Council (SSAC). Comprised of sophomores, juniors, and seniors from each high school, the SSAC works directly with the superintendent and district administrators to provide student perspectives on matters affecting their educational experience. The council serves as a representative voice for students across the district, offering feedback on issues that impact school climate, student success, and equitable access to a safe learning environment.
Judson ISD values stakeholder engagement and strives to ensure that district policies and practices reflect thoughtful consideration of feedback from students, families, staff, and community members throughout the review. process.