Two Muslim students at Freedom High School say administrators harassed them over their decision to don hijabs, or religious headscarves, eventually prompting apologies from Prince William school division leaders.
Hajah Bah and Fatmata Mansaray, both seniors at Freedom, say they were approached by a school administrator June 1 and told they would need a note from a parent to prove they were wearing the head coverings for religious reasons. When they pushed back against that assertion, they were sent to the principal’s office and ultimately dismissed from school for the day.
“Normally, I don’t wear the hijab at school, but this time I did because Ramadan fell during the school year and I was fasting,” Bah said in an interview. “But why do I need a note if it’s my religion?”
As word of the incident reached school division leaders, spokesman Phil Kavits said they “immediately determined that it runs counter to the PWCS commitment to diversity.” He says school officials have already apologized to both girls and their families, and the division has posted an apology online.
Kavits said they’re not currently considering any disciplinary measures for the administrator involved in the June 1 dispute, and he believes the whole snafu stemmed from a misinterpretation by Freedom administrators of the school division’s “Code of Behavior.” He affirmed that “no student should have to have documentation to justify wearing religious articles,” but that explanation did little to comfort Bah.
“I feel terrible,” Bah said. “They should know their own code of behavior.”
Mansaray also contends that Thursday’s incident is far from the first time she’s been accosted by administrators over her head covering. She wears the hijab more frequently than Bah, and she says she’s been approached about the headscarf many times dating back to her junior year at Freedom.
“I would explain that it’s for a religious purpose, and they didn’t care,” Mansaray said in an interview. “I’d wear my hijab to school, and I’d be constantly told to take off my hijab.”
Mansaray says she and her parents were initially reluctant to secure a note proving she was wearing the hijab for religious reasons, as they “did not feel it was right.” But she felt she eventually “had to cave in” and delivered a note to the school’s office.
Still, her encounters with administrators continued.
“Even after that I was still harassed and told I had to carry around a note in order for me to wear it,” Mansaray said. “So I would say, ‘There’s a note on file,’ but they would say, ‘Oh no, you need to have it in person with you.’”
Kavits says the school division is still “investigating the situation to determine all relevant facts,” and leaders are so far only familiar with the June 1 dispute.
Bah says that clash was what finally forced division leaders to pay attention to the issue. After she was confronted by an administrator, Mansaray came to her defense, charging that, “You guys pick and choose when you want to enforce the rules.”
That led to the pair and their parents sitting down with the school’s principal, Inez Bryant, who again reiterated the administration’s belief that the students needed a note to wear the hijab.
“We were crying in the conference room, and got taken home,” Bah said.
Mansaray responded by posting a lengthy explanation of the incident on Twitter, which caught the attention of both school board member Justin Wilk of the Potomac District and At-Large Chairman Ryan Sawyers.
Wilk says he was immediately disturbed by Mansaray’s tweets, and he quickly looped in the school’s representative on the board, Loree Williams of the Woodbridge District. He added that he also reached out to Muslim leaders in the community to assure them that the school division was addressing the issue.
“It’s the 21st century, and we need to be able to recognize the needs of students of all faiths in our schools,” Wilk said.
Sawyers and Williams didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment.
Since the night of the incident, Bah and Mansaray say they’ve both received apologies from the school system, and have even seen an outpouring of support from their fellow students — Bah says many of her classmates donned hijabs on June 2 as a sign of solidarity, including both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Since then, Bah and Mansaray say they’ve both received apologies from the school system, and have even seen an outpouring of support from their fellow students — Bah says many of her classmates donned hijabs on June 2 as a sign of solidarity, including both Muslims and non-Muslims.
Kavits says the division’s current focus now is “on fixing any identified problems to make certain that all students, staff and community members feel welcome and respected in our schools.” But, as she nears graduation later this month, Mansaray still feels frustrated by the whole incident.
“They basically harassed me for over a year for no reason,” Mansaray said.