Scissors And Nightmares
Outrage didn’t even come close to describing how he felt.
When the teacher picked up the pair of scissors and chopped off their girl’s beautiful hair, it put in motion a series of events that he couldn’t believe would ever have happened. But the culprits had no idea how far he was ready to go.
Getting Ready For School
It was a morning like any other.
Jimmy fixed the final butterfly clip on his daughter’s beautiful curls. She bobbed her head a giggled as the googly insect eye bounced around. Then they scrambled downstairs where his wife was pouring cereal and packing the last bits of their girl’s school lunch.
Hard Afternoon
The rest of the day should have been uneventful.
He and his wife would go to work and put in the hours until it was time to race back home. They would greet Jurnee with a huge hug and talk about their day. But when their kiddo walked through the door, sniffing and wiping her red eyes, Jimmy felt like he had been punched in the gut.
Harsh Bus Prank
Jimmy stood frozen as his wife sprinted forward and ran her fingers through Jurnee’s jagged locks.
“What happened?!” he asked. Jurnee sniffed again and sobbed. “A student cut my hair. He laughed.” He let out a long sigh. It was inevitable that little tots would play hairdresser at least once, but this was crazy. He desperately hoped that this was just a one-time thing but he had no idea what was coming.
New Cut
Jimmy put his hand over Jurnee’s hair and gave her a big hug. “Anymore, no kid should cut your hair ok? Don’t let them, ok?” he said. Jurnee stifled her sobs as she nodded in agreement.
They rushed her to the hairdresser, where they all agreed on an asymmetrical cut. That should have been the end of things, but it only got worse from there.
Telling The School
When Jimmy got home, he called the school and told them about the incident. However, he wasn’t going to push things further than that because it was a fellow student that had picked up the scissors.
He also had a stern talk with Jurnee about letting anyone cut her hair. However, when their beautiful girl walked through the door the very next day, she sported a new, very-short haircut that was absolutely hideous.
Why Is It Shorter?!
“What did we tell you?” Jimmy said, “I thought I told you no child should ever cut your hair”. He struggled to control his emotions. But Jurnee then said, “But dad, it was the teacher.”
Both Jimmy and his wife had to sit down. A teacher was responsible for this hack job, and no one told them? He asked Jurnee again what happened. Was she really telling the truth?
Delicate Situation
It was a delicate situation. He didn’t want to make his daughter feel like he didn’t believe her, but he also didn’t want to wrongly accuse the school of something so outrageously wrong.
If it was true, how could no one even ask her parents ahead of time? Jimmy picked up the phone and called the principal. The answer would make his blood boil.
Not Sorry
Not only did they say nothing wrong happened, but the teacher also wasn’t going to face any repercussions.
All they would do was put a small note in her file! Jimmy couldn’t believe it. Phrases like “it’s just hair” and “no big deal, it will grow back” made him want to reach through the phone and punch someone. And the situation only got worse.
From Bad To Worse
Not only was the experience of a teacher cutting her hair bizarre, she was also unqualified to do so. But there were knock-on effects too.
The next day, kids pointed curiously at her cut hair. Jurnee didn't like the attention and went home crying again. The next phone call would trigger an explosion.
Make It Go Away
Jimmy listened with a slack jaw as the principal said, “What can we do to make this go away?”.
Jimmy was in disbelief at their flippant response. Were they serious? Did they just want to sweep this under the rug? They still hadn’t even apologized or acknowledged that they did anything wrong. They stuck firm that the teacher did nothing wrong and that he was over-reacting. But they had no idea who they were dealing with.
Wanting Revenge
Jimmy was now beyond livid. Who did they think they were? They acted as if his child’s experience was nothing but a bit of dirt on their shoe.
Jimmy couldn’t let them get away with this. He wanted revenge. He sat fuming after he ended the call. How could he make them admit their wrong and pay for what they did? An idea popped into his mind.
Going Public
Jimmy knew that if he wanted to make the school pay attention to him and take accountability for what they’ve done, he needed more people to know about what happened here.
Jimmy went to social media and vented his anger. Just as Jimmy predicted, the post went insanely viral. Now, the school was forced to acknowledge the violation they ensued on Jimmy’s daughter.
Media Outcry
The public was outraged at the school's behavior. Many parents commented expressing their sympathy for Jurnee and Jimmy and their anger at the teacher for doing that as well as the school for defending the act.
Only now, with building media attention, did the school finally take action – and it was just as insulting as everything they had done up to that point.
Looking Into The Event
The school was forced to hire a “third party” that did a thorough “investigation” into the matter and ruled that the teacher did violate school policy. However, according to them it wasn’t really that bad and was completely excusable.
The teacher would only get a “last chance warning” because she had been a “model teacher” up until that point. How they determined to deal with it shocked the community.
Not Enough
The “third party” agreed that it would be equally appropriate for the school to give her paid administrative leave! This wasn’t half enough to satisfy Jimmy and his wife.
Jimmy watched as his wife balled furious tears. Even little Jurnee was having nightmares about her hair falling out. This was getting out of control and the story wasn’t even over yet.
No Real Repercussions
Jimmy gripped his morning coffee, reading through the interesting email that had just arrived in his inbox.
By now, his story had spread nationwide and agencies in his local area were made even more furious at the lack of real repercussions the teacher faced. If this case wasn’t made an example of, there was no telling it wouldn’t happen again.
Unexpected Email
Jimmy read through his emails and found a notification from The National Parents Union.
The National Parents Union wanted to help them. The fact that the school was doing nothing, only apologized when the world found out, didn’t matter. They had broken the rules on a national level. He couldn’t believe what they did next.
Getting Help
Jimmy talked to The National Parents Union. They wanted to set up a Go Fund Me page for him. They agreed with his sentiment that this case needed to be made an example of.
Schools simply couldn’t breach a child’s and parent’s civil rights like this and not have to face any punishment. What happened wasn’t good enough. So they formed a plan.
Legal Action
The union set up a Go Fund Me page, and Jimmy saw the donations pouring in – and all of it would go to a specialized legal team.
When they asked what Jimmy wanted, he didn’t even have to think. “A million dollars,” he said. He knew the number was outrageous, but he also knew that hitting groups in their wallets was the only way to affect change. The school, it seemed, was ready to fight back.
Still Not Sorry
Jimmy and his wife seethed as they read the school’s response.
“We will aggressively defend against these baseless allegations in court and will not allow this to distract us from our mission to provide every child a world-class education that prepares them for college and careers.”
Traumatized Girl
The school districted wanted to roll the dice with the federal court? So be it.
They had transferred Jurnee to a different school. But that didn’t mean they were giving up. Their little girl’s hair was part of her identity. She loved to share that the color came from her mom and the curls came from her dad. Now, kids at school giggled behind her back.
Part Of Her Identity
Yes, her hair would grow back, but the memories would never go away.
Even Jimmy and his wife still had faded memories of school that still jabbed them once in a while. They had no idea who he really was. He was someone not to be underestimated. Why?
Don’t Mess With Parents
He was a loving dad whose baby girl had been hurt
His wife was in mama-bear mode, but he was also going to bear his claws and not stop fighting. The school wasn’t sorry at the start, but they were soon going to regret not picking up the phone and asking them in the first place ... like they should have.
The Lawsuit
Jimmy’s lawsuit stated alleged that the school “failed to properly train, monitor, direct, discipline and supervise their employees, and knew or should have known that the employees would engage in the complained of behavior given the improper training, customs, procedures, and policies, and the lack of discipline that existed for employees”.
His attorney declared that the incident and the school’s response was “unacceptable”. They were going in hard!