Nationwide — Micaela Varlack, an African American mom from Columbus, Georgia, is upset after discovering her 4-year-old daughter Londyn’s locs were combed out by her teacher without asking for her permission.
But 3 weeks later, Londyn came home from her pre-kindergarten at Childcare Network with braids instead of locs.
“Monday, on May the 6, I go to pick her up from the daycare,” she recounted, according to WLBT. “There’s a little child who looks like my child with her hair braided.”
Varlack said she was shocked upon knowing her daughter’s hair was rebraided without her knowing.
“Why would you comb 32 locs out of a child’s hair, to sit down and braid them, part them…,” Varlack said. “You didn’t call me, and her literal response was, ‘I just didn’t.'”
Locs specialist Victoria Sunmola said the teacher crossed the line by acting without parental permission. She said, “It’s very disrespectful because she did not have the parent’s permission to do it. The mother spent money on this service, and she crossed the line… more than anything it wasn’t her place.”
After the incident, Micaela had to take Londyn to Urgent Care for possible scalp irritation. Sunmola noted that removing locs and tight braiding could cause such issues.
“So here we are and now there is inflammation in the baby’s head,” Sunmola said. “All of this could have been avoided if she had consulted the parent.”
Moreover, Varlack asked the school for a refund for the money spent on Londyn’s hair but was denied.
The Childcare Network corporate office responded with a statement, saying, “On Monday, May 6, a currently enrolled child asked a teacher to braid her hair. After speaking with her mother at pick-up, our staff immediately offered to reimburse the family. Please know that the physical and mental well-being of the children and families we care for is of utmost importance to us, and we are sorry that this was upsetting to the family as it was not our intent.”
