SANGER, Texas — Joshua King loves sports, singing, chess...and his hair.
"I like it a lot," he readily admits.
Which is one reason the soon to be 6th grader in Sanger ISD was surprised by a change to the dress code for the school year that starts in August.
According to the new policy, male students hair "must be neatly trimmed and worn in a style above the eyebrows that exposes the earlobes and has a length not exceeding the bottom of the collar of a dress shirt or top of a crew-neck tee shirt.”
The policy is a departure from the '18-'19 school year that only required hair for all students be "neatly groomed and out of the face."
"A dress code should promote fairness and respect for everyone,” King said. "The dress code is gender biased and not fair to everyone."
So the 11-year old honor roll student did his research and decided to write a letter to protest the change.
He read his letter on Monday at the Sanger ISD school board meeting.
Ken Scribner, president of the Sanger ISD school board, says there wasn't a particular incident that lead to the decision.
"The District’s dress code is intended to establish healthy standards of student grooming and hygiene, create and maintain a healthy and positive learning environment, and prevent disruption or interference with the educational environment and school activities," Scribner said in a statement.
King said he has no problem with a dress code, or even a school uniform, but says he feels the district policy should return to a gender neutral interpretation for student grooming.
“Why can’t boys have long hair and earrings," King said. "Neither style causes a disruption or interferes with our education.”
King started a petition on Monday after the meeting. The "haircuts have no gender" petition already picked up a few hundred signatures on change.org as of late Wednesday.
King says he plans to address the Sanger ISD board again in July.