Boy's Haircut Costs School $10K

Sally Miller might have been grateful if her 8-year-old son had come home from school with a nice-looking haircut.

But when he showed up with "next to nothing" on his head, Miller threatened to sue.

The West Linn-Wilsonville School District recently agreed to pay Miller $10,000 because a school employee cut the boy's hair without permission.

The case was settled last month, but its documents were not released until The Oregonian newspaper filed a public records request.

"First I was shocked," Miller told the newspaper. "Then I was embarrassed that I didn't have the money to get him a haircut. And then I was mad ... I thought, 'What nerve. How invasive."'

The single mother said she tried to keep her son's hair looking neat.

"There was one stinking day, and I'm not lying, that I didn't brush his hair," Miller said.

Superintendent Roger Woehl said Wednesday the employee was wrong to play barber. "If someone needs a haircut, we'd be more than happy to go into our wallets to give them 20 bucks," he said.

The school district's insurance company paid the $10,000 settlement but admits no liability, said Peter Merserau, an attorney for the school district.