Massachusetts student disciplined for school dress code violation after wearing a hijab; school misspells it as jihab

A Massachusetts student has been disciplined for a school dress code violation after wearing a hijab.

According to family, a student at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden received the dress code violation on Thursday, her first day of school.

The student’s sister stated that it is “nerve racking enough to show up in a hijab on the first day of school and wonder how your classmates will perceive you. To be sent to the office because of it, well you can imagine how hard this was. Afnaan came home crying because of her own school’s racist and discriminatory actions.”

Aya stated on social media that her and her older sister Dalia went to the same school and wore a hijab, so the school was familiar. The disciplinary form also misspelled hijab by calling it a jihab.

Photo courtesy of family

The family stated that the school has requested a letter from a religious organization that the hijab is a religious covering and also wants a new letter every year.

Malden’s mayor, Gary Christenson, issued a statement on the incident.

“Our great City is only a community because of the way we’ve welcomed those from every ethnic and religious background.

“We were saddened like so many other Malden residents to learn of the recent issue a Malden family experienced with their daughter on the wearing of her hijab while attending Mystic Valley Regional Charter School (MVRCS). I understand that MVRCS has been unwavering in the commitment to its uniform policy, however, as a prominent member of our Muslim community stated, wearing hijab is a protected right, it is not part of a uniform and should not be looked at as such.

“I have been in contact with our state delegation and together we have reached out to the student’s family to offer our support and assistance. I have also spoken with Alex Dan, Director of MVRCS, and George Warren, Chair of the Board, and encouraged them to create a policy that better reflects the open-minded approach we all must commit to and based on those conversations, I am hopeful that there will be a change accordingly in the near future.

“In the meantime, our City will remain committed as ever to supporting and embracing every race, religion and background that makes up this vibrant community and will continue to hold each other accountable as part of that commitment.”

Aya stated that there have been previous issues with the school including teachers saying in class that Arabs are backstabbers and terrorists.

“MVRCS is discriminatory towards all non-Whites. Blacks, Arabs, Hispanics, etc. You name the race and I’m sure someone who attended MV has a story about what happened to them at this school.”

The school also faced backlash in 2017 when two Black students faced detention for breaking a policy on hair extensions.