Kamryn Renfro, a 9-year-old girl who attends Caprock Academy in Grand Junction, Colo., decided to shave her head in support of her friend, 11-year-old Delaney Clements.
Clements is battling neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, according to Denver NBC affiliate KUSA. She lost her hair because she is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
A totally cool, totally inspiring display of true friendship on Renfro’s part, right?
“It felt like the right thing to do,” Renfro told KUSA, noting that she got her parents’ permission for the new (non) hairdo.
Clements definitely appreciated the gesture.
“I was really excited I would have somebody to support me and I wouldn’t be alone with people always laughing at me,” she told local Fox affiliate KDVR. “I would at least have somebody to go through it all.”
Naturally, then, officials at Caprock Academy immediately determined on Monday morning that Renfro’s bald head violated a dress-code policy against shaved heads (for anyone).
First thing in the morning, Caprock officials turned Renfro away at the door.
The classical charter school’s leaders stridently cited school policy.
“Caprock Academy does have a detailed dress code policy, which was created to promote safety, uniformity, and a non-distracting environment for the school’s students,” school president Catherine Norton Breman explained. “Under this policy, shaved heads are not permitted.”
Thus, a nine-year-old girl supporting her friend with cancer couldn’t go inside her school without a wig – a wig! – or some grown-back real hair.
Clements’s mother, Wendy Campbell, said she was flabbergasted
“I didn’t realize that hair was such an important aspect of a child at school,” Campbell told KUSA.
Clements was completely bummed out, too.
“It makes me sad because she was really happy to go back to school and show people what she did, but now that she didn’t get to, she’s kind of sad,” the brave cancer survivor said.
After the Denver press seized on the story and shamed Caprock Academy, school officials seemed to change their tune in a hurry.
By Monday afternoon, officials had scheduled an executive session to “review” the haircut policy. They also promised that Renfro could return on Tuesday, even if her hair hasn’t grown back by then — and even without a wig.
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