Mother says 11-year-old's braid cut off in Melrose school "it was racially targeted"
MELROSE - An 11-year-old girl says one of her braids was cut while she was cleaning up a project with her classmates at a Melrose elementary school. "I was just embarrassed that somebody cut my hair," said the fifth grader whose family does not want her identified.
She got the new braids as a graduation gift, but her mother shows pictures of one bluntly cut from behind, and the student says it was all dismissed by her teacher. "I'm telling you somebody cut off my hair that's the only way it could happen," the girl said. "She said you've been playing with it all day and it's extremely long."
Student in Melrose through METCO program
It happened Tuesday at the Winthrop Elementary School in Melrose where the student from Boston went for the first time this year through the METCO program. Her mother Kerrin, who prefers not to use her last name, is outraged by the cultural insensitivity of what happened. "For someone to just disgustingly cut them is really hurtful, and hurtful culturally because I know for sure that it was racially targeted," said Kerrin.
She says her daughter is one of only two Black children in the class, a school where she was seeking better educational opportunities. But she says the principal was dismissive as well, telling the girl to throw the braid away and the teacher suggesting she had sat on it. No one in the classroom was speaking up about who made the cut.
"I was hurt because I didn't do anything for them to feel the need to cut my hair," said the fifth grader. "Even if I did do something it's no reason for them to touch me."
More complaints filed
Kerrin says there have been other racially charged incidents of bullying and name calling this year. It's enough that she's filed other complaints against the school district that she says have gone unanswered.
In a statement Superintendent John Macero says, "We plan to hire a third-party firm to investigate the details of this incident and we are reporting the incident to the relevant state agencies."
"I just felt so helpless trying to fight the good fight all year long to get her the help she needed, and getting the school to understand the magnitude of what was happening," said Kerrin.
She says this incident has gone too far and wants the district held accountable while deciding if it is now the best school for her daughter.
