COLUMBIA COUNTY, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) — A mother says a paraprofessional at her son’s Columbia County school cut off his dreadlocks without her knowledge or permission, and that the district has not adequately responded to her complaints.
Denise, who asked that her face not be shown because she works in the same school district, moved to Georgia from Virginia in September specifically for Columbia County’s special needs programs. Two months after her autistic son enrolled, he came home without dreadlocks.
‘You touched my child without my consent’
Denise said her son had long, reformed dreadlocks before the incident. She said she learned what happened through a recording she made with her son the day it occurred.
“I didn’t know what was going on, and first she cut my dreads and showed them to me and said you see this isn’t full and I said okay. I don’t know what’s going on,” her son said in the recording.
Denise said the paraprofessional used scissors and left one dreadlock at the front of her son’s head. She said no call, email, or permission slip was provided before the haircut took place.
“You took it upon yourself to touch my child and I feel like it’s assault and battery — I keep saying that you touched my child without my consent,” Denise said.
Principal promised investigation; mother says no one followed up
In a recorded phone call with the school’s principal, Denise raised concerns about her son’s IEP and the lack of consent.
“I don’t know if you understand but he is special needs, he has autism and has an IEP — so without my consent it’s like I don’t understand, yeah go ahead and cut it off,” Denise said to the principal in the recording.
She said the principal told her he was opening an investigation, questioning the paraprofessional, and contacting HR. But Denise said she never heard back.
“It’s like they swept it under the rug — it doesn’t matter,” she said. “Because nobody got back in touch with me, nobody called me.”
Paraprofessional returned to classroom; mother says son is traumatized
Denise said the paraprofessional was removed from her son’s classroom for a few days but has since returned to the school. She said her son is now struggling three months after the incident.
“It’s traumatic — he’s going through a trauma right now, everything is bothering him. Being around her knowing she is still there when she traumatized him,” Denise said. “It’s like she is getting away with assault.”
Columbia County Schools declined to discuss the incident, citing student privacy.
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