By ,
Published May 03, 2016
A Missouri teenager ran afoul of her school’s strict dress code when she dyed her hair a bright auburn shade.
The principal at West County High School told junior Savannah Keesee she could not attend classes with an unnatural hair color. He sent her home Monday and told her she was suspended until she changed it.
“He goes, 'your hair is really bright,' I said, 'OK.' He goes, 'you need to call your mom and have her come pick you up,'” Keesee, 16, told Fox2Now in St. Louis Tuesday. “So I tried to go back today and he said I couldn’t stay because my hair was still the same color.”
Sheri Keesee said she helped her daughter dye her hair with a box of Garnier Fructis.
“She just wanted it a little bit different,” the mother said. “We had a bunch of snow days, and did some girl stuff and we dyed her hair.”
District Superintendent Stacy Stevens says the school’s hair color policy has been in place for decades. The policy bars non-natural hair colors like green, purple or green.
“I think our students and parents are accepting of it,” Stevens told the station. “It’s been in place a long time, and so we feel like it’s a policy that works.”
Her mother told the Leadwood Daily Journal that Savannah went to the salon Wednesday evening to have her hair re-dyed.
Her hair is now a brownish shade with an auburn tint.
“I think it looks great and I’m glad the girls at the salon took the time to do it,” she told the paper.
Savannah showed off her new hair color when she returned to school Thursday.
Still, she feels the school singled her out because other girls with similar color shades haven’t gotten suspended.
“I think it’s pretty unfair,” she said.
Savannah kept up with her schoolwork during her suspension. Her absences are also going to be excused.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-school-suspends-teen-for-dyeing-hair-bright-red