Haircut Could Get Principal in Hot Water


Dec 3, 6:35 AM (ET)



ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - The principal of Rio Grande High School could be in trouble for taking one of his students to a barber shop without permission of the pupil's parents.

Al Sanchez could face disciplinary action, Albuquerque public school district officials said.

"Students should not be taken off of campus by any staff member without parental permission," said Rigo Chavez, district spokesman.

Sanchez said he thought Fidel Maldonado Jr.'s hair style - the number "505" and a Zia symbol shaved into the back of his head - was a gang haircut.

Sanchez said he thought he was doing Maldonado, 15, a favor by taking him to a barber instead of suspending him.

"I said, 'Do you want to just go to the barber and cut it off?' He said, 'Yeah.' I said, 'Let's go,'" Sanchez said.

Fidel Maldonado Sr. said the law was broken when the principal took his son off campus. He said he is considering legal action.

"For him to take my son and take him out of school without my consent, against his own will, is wrong," Maldonado Sr. said.

Maldonado Jr., a boxer since age 7, said he had a barber shave the New Mexico area code into the back of his head before a boxing match, which was scheduled Saturday.

An assistant principal noticed Maldonado Jr.'s haircut Thursday and took him to the campus police and then to the principal.

"Mr. Sanchez said, 'You're going to go with me or you're going to get suspended,'" Maldonado Jr. said, adding he was not allowed to call his parents.

He also said that once he was inside Sanchez's truck, the principal grabbed his neck. Sanchez denied the allegation.,

"This was crazy," Sanchez said. "We had a good conversation. ... I showed him where I grew up. We were talking."

Sanchez said Maldonado Jr. told him his father was working and could not be reached, so he offered to take the boy to the teen's barber so he would not miss school.

"I was just trying to do a nice thing, take him there and bring him back," Sanchez said.

Jake Maestas, the barber, said he refused to cut the teenager's hair Thursday without parental permission and told the boy to call his father.

Maldonado Sr. said the call from the hair salon was the first he received form his son that day.

splitting hairs

Well that was a wrong thing to do .. taking a pupil off campus, without parental permission. Something like that happened to me .. not involving a school official .. my aunt picked me from school, brought me to a hair salon and got my hair fixed. All without notifying my mom .. my mom was so p1$$ed when she found out what my aunt did. This was when I was in the 3rd grade.

It does sound like the principal meant no harm but to be in charge of a school you have to have more sense than that. This should have been a no brainer. If it had been my child taken off campus by a teacher, I'd have been in a rage.

Yeah... he should've called the kids parents and sent him home... god help the poor fool that would ever do that to one of my kids..

That's what happens for trying to be nice instead of following the rules. Reminds me of the thread about the cop in Arizona who's in trouble for getting these guys to rap to get out of getting a ticket.

The principal should have suspended the kid, had him call his parents and read them the riot act for allowing their son to come to school inproperly groomed. That way when the parnts threatened to sue (which they would have done either way) he would at least he District policy on his side.

It is so unfortunate that in this lawsuit-crazy, "my kid is a saint," soicety you have to be careful about who you're nice to and how you are nice to them. I remember when I used to take my kids to the playground, I absolutely hated seeing any other kid fall and hurt himself or worse see a kid in a precarious situation, because I was so afraid that if I went to help them I would be accused of attempted child moelstation or something.