I’ve found a lot of supportive people on myspace that are following our story and some have asked where they can send letters. I love this idea so for anyone who is interested, here is the information I have been sending out.
—————– Bulletin Message —————–
From: TheStitchWitch
Date: Jun 18, 2008 9:05 AM
The response to my son’s story has been amazing. We appreciate every email that gives us support and encouragement.
Thank you!
A few of you have asked where to send letters protesting the school district’s attitude and policy. Here is the mailing address for NISD. The elementary school uses the same one.
Needville ISD
16227 Highway 36 South
Post Office Box 412
Needville, Texas 77461
Curtis Rhodes is the superintendant and the person we have been dealing with directly. His email address is rhodesc@needvilleisd.com
Jeanna Sniffin is the Elementary school principal who originally told me no. Her email address is sniffinj@needvilleisd.com
The board members and their email addresses are:
Jim Kocian – President
kocianj@needvilleisd.com
Mark Wendt – Vice President
wendtm@needvilleisd.com
Joseph Anderson – Secretary
andersonj@needvilleisd.com
Mike Raska – Asst.
Secretary
raskam@needvilleisd.com
Jan Black
blackj@needvilleisd.com
Kim Janke
jankek@needvilleisd.com
Chris Janicek
janicekc@needvilleisd.com
The board members information was found here:
http://www. needvilleisd. com/NISD_Board_Members. htm
I would love to see what you all write and post copies in my blogs whenever possible. Try to keep the insults and talking poorly about people’s mothers to a minimum but please say what you feel.
If you are offended by this gross abuse of civil rights then please write and tell them. Its not just for my son, its for any child that may not fit their narrow standards of required appearance.
My son will benefit as well as any other future child in that district that dares to look different.
My son’s name is Adriel. By the time this is over it will be a name they never forget and wish they had never heard.
If you are forwarding this to someone outside of myspace, give them the link to my public blog where anyone can read all the details of our fight.
http://www.thestitchwitch.wordpress.com
Thestitchwitch's Weblog 
June 21, 2008 at 3:23 pm |
The school policy and the people who are enforcing it are sadly backward. I hope they join this century sometime soon.
The two older brothers of one of my best school friends were anthropology students who had chosen Native American studies, specializing in the various Iroquois tribes. Heck, I knew of the Native American tradition of not cutting hair when I was a suburban white teenager who wasn’t even old enough to drive, more than fifteen years ago. Anyone with any clue in how to do research on cultural traditions could establish the validity of your claim with very little effort and time, especially with access to the Internet.
Just do a Google search using the following combined terms:
“long hair” “Native American” tradition
“long hair” “American Indian” tradition
Do your school officials profess themselves to be smarter than the Ohio State Supreme Court?
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Justices/pfeifer/column/2000/jp060700.htm
Do your school officials believe themselves above Federal Law?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_Religious_Freedom_Act
The Alabama and Coushatta tribes of Texas sued the Trustees of the Big Sandy Independent School District, and it went to the Supreme Court, and the tribes won – I recommend you talk to your local library’s reference librarian for information on finding presentable material regarding this case, as much of the information on the Internet is mangled. Here’s one link, but you’ll see what I mean:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3805/is_200304/ai_n9176309
In short, not only are your school officials seriously pathetic, but they’re either lazy or sadly inept at use of the Internet.
There is a book, God vs the Gavel, with a lot of the legal history of First Amendment rulings, including ones you might find applicable. You might want to see if your local library has, or can get, a copy of that book.
There is an associate law professor who has been doing a great deal of work on this issue recently who might be a useful resource:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1137952
Good luck in your fight. You are not alone.
Signed,
Token Jew who grew up in a Catholic hell, and who believes your son deserves better
October 28, 2010 at 8:41 pm |
Posted by Jacob Kreusch on the belerico project….AWESOME.
Actually this isn’t ridiculous. “Oh please forgive us discriminitory and rascist Needvillians for having something called STANDARDS.” The family didn’t have to move to Needville. In fact, when asked why they moved the family failed to give any satisfying answer. The family could just as easily have sent him over to Lamar, whose jurisdiction is only a few miles away.
Every other male student in the Needville school district is required to have short hair. So this kid is better because his father CLAIMS to have a religion that requires long hair? Look I wouldn’t expect an immature douche such as yourself to understand this but if you let one person get by then you have to let EVERYONE get by. A school can’t legitimately tell who does and does not have said religion. How about I say that I am a member of a religion called FUCKISTIANS and declare that everyday I must where a shirt saying “FUCK YOUR COUNTRY, FUCK YOUR GOD.” Is that right? Read my next paragraph and you’ll understand that this is exactly the entire purpose of this incident.
You see Needville had already had to tighten it’s dress code policy due to…unsavory language. There was a lawyer(I can’t say his name because the mosquito would try to sue me for slander…or better yet emotional trauma for what I would say about him. That’s more his style) who was in charge of one case whenever a father INSISTED his girl wear an implicative shirt to school for 3 straight days just to make a point and sued because the school suspended the girl. Now about one 2 years later this family moves in and it wasn’t until said lawyer returned from a rather extensive “business” trip that the family announced their intentions not to cut the child’s hair. This among the fact that he also presided over this case kinda makes one believe that this wasn’t REALLY about religion, but some jackass trying to make a name for himself.
I love how readily some people are to throwout the term rascist. They want to talk about double standards. Well excuse me but, this kid was simply being held to the same standard as all of these other children. America is supposed to be fair right? Isn’t that what people such as yourselves keep preaching? So if this child had been allowed to keep his long hair and the others had not, then wouldn’t that in itself have been a double standard? Would that not be rascist? So the christians, jews, muslims, hindus, and bhuddists would not be allowed this same privilege? Tell you what guys, when you get a grip on the concept of reality, standards, and rules, THEN you can talk all of the smack that you like.
It is part of simply part of Needville culture to have these things called standards which the rest of America seems to be losing. You could say we are something of a haven for those who still believe in these old fashioned things called rules. While little Jonathan in a town south of Needville(Again avoiding slander but I know for a fact that this did indeed happen) can stab his classmate with a pair of scissors, walk down to the principles office and end up right back in class the next day, we hold our children to a higher standard and degree of responsibility.
So I know what you are going to say about how Needville has this shut off community and that were all a bunch of ignorant, philistinistic, rednecks but consider it in these words. We have created a culture that fondly remembers the older, cleaner, and more optimistic America. This event was an attack on that culture. We have created a culture. We defended it the best we could from attack. And for trying to preserve our beliefs, our customs, and our culture, you sit here behind a computer screen mocking us, degrading us, belittling what we believe in. Needville is not rascist, our school district has made teaching racial equality one of it’s primary concerns.
I would simply ask that you consider what I have shared with you and ask yourselves,”Where is the discrimination now?”