Fifty-one public school districts in Texas have been determined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas to be in violation of the Texas CROWN Act. Consequently, the ACLU of Texas wrote to each of these school districts to notify them of violations in their 2023-2024 dress and grooming codes.

According to a July 24 press release issued by the non-profit organization, the correspondence demands that the districts update their policies to comply with the CROWN Act. This law, signed last year, prohibits discrimination based on hair textures or protective hairstyles commonly or historically associated with race at schools, workplaces, and housing authorities.

ACLU of Texas attorney Chloe Kempf said in the release all school districts across the state must immediately comply with the law. Kempf stated, "The CROWN Act is necessary to ensure that students of color are free to express themselves."

Patricia Okonta, assistant legal counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, said in the release that hair discrimination forces students of color to forgo equal educational opportunities.

The release also noted that earlier this year, the ACLU of Texas published "Dressed To Express: How Dress Codes Discriminate Against Texas Students and Must Be Changed." The publication discovered that more than 80% of surveyed districts in the 2022-2023 academic year implemented policies harmful to Black students.

The organization hopes that the districts it called out will make changes for the upcoming school year.