Mother furious after middle school principal uses a marker to color in son's haircut over claims it was 'gang-related'

  • Monica Esquivel claims her son Kobi had the same haircut for five months
  • Assistant principal at Coronado Middle School in Plainview 'fixed' Kobi's hair
  • The administrator colored in the line in the boy's hair with a dark marker
  • Esquivel wants the Plainview Indepedent School District to issue an apology 

By Evan Bleier For Dailymail.com

Published: 11:44 EST, 20 February 2015 | Updated: 13:48 EST, 20 February 2015

The mother of a Texas middle school student wants an apology after an administrator colored on her son's head with a dark marker because they claim he had a 'gang-related' haircut.

Monica Esquivel's son Kobi was attending Coronado Middle School in Plainview with a haircut featuring a line shaved on the side of his head for the last five months.

An assistant principal told Kobi his hair was a 'distraction' and colored in the line with a marker earlier this week.

Scroll down for video 

Kobi shows where an assistant principal at Coronado Middle School in Plainview, Texas, colored on his head

Kobi shows where an assistant principal at Coronado Middle School in Plainview, Texas, colored on his head

The line that was shaved in Kobi's dark hair (above) was supposed to look like it was a part 

The line that was shaved in Kobi's dark hair (above) was supposed to look like it was a part 

Monica Esquivel wants the Plainview Indepedent School District to apologize for what happened with Kobi

Monica Esquivel wants the Plainview Indepedent School District to apologize for what happened with Kobi

Officials from the Plainview Independent School District failed to notify Esquivel about what had happened with her son, KCBD reported. 

When she did speak to them, school administrators informed her Kobi's haircut could be considered gang related.

She said: 'My son is not in a gang, he's not trying to be in a gang. He dresses in khakis, a shirt, not in loose pants or anything, just real nice and casual. 

'He isn't representing a gang or anything.'

The school district's dress code policy 'prohibits designs shaved into the scalp and this includes lines'

The school district's executive director for administrative services, Greg Brown, said any concerns regarding the assistant principal's behavior will be addressed confidentially, according to the Plainview Daily Herald.

Brown said district policy 'prohibits designs shaved into the scalp and this includes lines'.

He added: 'The dress code is a part of the parent/student handbook that is made available to all students online and in paper form.

'The dress code is specifically looked at by the administration who makes any changes that need to be made.'

Final approval about the handbook is usually issued in July. 

Esquivel wants the Plainview Indepedent School District to apologize to her son and also update its dress code policy. 

Kobi will be allowed to grow his hair out to cover the shaved line. 

This situation is similar to one that happened about a year ago in Florida.

Last January, a school counselor at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres shaved a student's head because he felt the 11-year-old's hair was a distraction and could be gang related, NBC 2 reported.

Comments (0)

Share what you think

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now