Longstanding Lawsuit Over Hair Cutting Incident Against Mt. Pleasant Schools Reaches Settlement

A million dollar lawsuit against Mount Pleasant Public Schools will be settled.

In March of 2021, Jurnee Hoffmeyer, a student at Ganiard Elementary School, had her hair cut by a classmate, and then cut again by a school librarian after a stylist corrected the initial cut. Nearly all of the girl’s hair had been cut off. Prior to the incident, Jurnee had long, curly hair.

Jurnee is biracial, with a black father and white mother. The father, Jimmy Hoffmeyer, filed the suit, alleging racial discrimination and a violation of his daughter’s constitutional rights. A third party investigation found while the librarian and other staff violated school policy, no racial bias was found.

The settlement was reached January 18 and will be finalized February 27.