Colorado Girl Banned From School After Shaving Head to Support Friend With Cancer

A Colorado child's heartwarming display of solidarity for her friend got her kicked out of school recently. 

Kamryn Renfro, 9, showed support for her friend who is battling a rare form of cancer by shaving her head to match her friend, who is bald from chemo treatments. 

Renfro's parents gave her approval to shave her head, and the girl went to school Monday to show her classmates how she's supporting her friend. But once she got to school she was told that she was in violation of the Caprock Academy dress code and was not allowed in class, the New York Daily News reports. 

After the news of her dismissal spread, she was allowed back Tuesday. 

Kamryn, who was playing outside Monday afternoon in Grand Junction Park with her friend, Delaney Clements, said they did not understand why the school felt they had to dismiss her.

"It felt like the right thing to do," Kamryn told KUSA-TV about her decision to shave her head. 

Clements, 11, said she feels less like an outcast now that Kamryn looks like her. "It made me feel very special and that I'm not alone," Delaney said.

Caprock Academy, a public charter school with strict guidelines about what children can wear to school, did not return a phone message left by the Daily News. 

The school released a statement Monday that "shaved heads are not permitted."

"It makes me sad because she was really happy to go back to school and show people what she did, but now that she didn't get to, she's kind of sad," Delaney said. 

Delaney's mother said she thought Kamryn's decision was brave and empathetic, and that she should be praised, not punished for her actions. 

"For a little girl to be really brave and want to shave her head in support of her friend, I thought that was a huge statement and it builds character in a child," she told the station.

Officials from the school said they will hold a special board of directors meeting to review the incident.