FortBendNow.com

A Stafford couple lost the first battle Wednesday in their fight to keep their 5-year-old son from having to cut his long hair when he enters Kindergarten in Needville.

But Michelle Betenbaugh said she and the boy’s American Indian father, Kenney Arocha, will approach Needville Independent School District officials again, and then take the matter to court if necessary.

At issue is 5-year-old Adriel Arocha’s shoulder-length hair. Betenbaugh, of European lineage, says her son follows his father’s religious beliefs, part of which dictate that a man’s hair is sacred. Unless he’s mourning the death of someone close, Betenbaugh said, “you don’t cut it.”

Betenbaugh and Kenny Arocha made recent plans to move from Stafford to property they own in Needville, and contacted Needville ISD school and administrative officials to talk about the younger Arocha’s religious beliefs.

In a series of conversations and meetings with school officials, they were told the boy would have to live by Needville Elementary School’s dress code – which includes specific rules governing hair length and style.

“If they want to say it’s a freedom of religion issue – what religion are you?” Needville ISD Superintendent Curtis Rhodes said of Adriel and his parents recently. “If you’re a Muslim and you have those religious tenets, that’s a known… But you have to have a sincerely held religious belief.”

Rhodes said last month the couple could appeal to the Needville ISD Board of Directors.

The board met Wednesday night, and turned down Betenbaugh and Arocha’s request to allow their son to keep his hair long, as part of his religious belief.

“We weren’t surprised at their decision,” Betenbaugh said on Thursday. “We knew they’d say no.”

What did surprise her, she said, was a contention by Rhodes that the official appeal process hasn’t really taken place yet, because Adriel is not yet an official Needville ISD student.

“According to the superintendent, we’ll have to start the whole appeal over again,” Betenbaugh said. “I guest they just did this to waste time. I don’t understand it.”

Regardless, she said she and Kenny Arocha will follow the process again, even though they are certain the outcome will be the same.

If so, they intend to take the matter to court.

“We’ve heard from the American Civil Liberties Union and a couple of different law firms,” Betenbaugh said. “If that’s the way it needs to go, we’re willing to do that.”

Adriel attended Wednesday night’s school board meeting. “He sat on the floor and drew pictures with crayons,” Betenbaugh said of her son. “He understands as much as a 5-year-old can. He knows he doesn’t want to cut his hair. But he does want to go to school and learn, and he’s very excited about that.”