PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – A white Utah teen claims her principal at Lincoln Academy is discriminating against her based on her dreadlocks hairstyle, which she said is part of her Hindu beliefs.

Eighth-grader Caycee Cunningham and her mother told Fox 13 that Lincoln Academy principal Jake Hunt recently took issue with the teen’s dreadlocks as a violation of the school dress code.

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Tonya Judd, the teen’s mother, said Hunt called her and said her daughter’s dreadlocks must be removed, because it violates the school’s policies against distracting haircuts, despite the fact that minority students wear a similar style.

“My daughter is white and there happens to be other kids in the school who happen to be other race and ethnicity and they have hair that can’t be combed, and there’s never been an issue regarding that before,” Judd said.

“Not only have they been racially profiling my daughter because she happens to be a white girl with dreadlocks, but it’s also taking away the rights of my daughter’s religious beliefs and her spiritual journey,” she said.

Cunningham initially decided to grow her dreadlocks after studying in Guatemala, and said they’re a tribute to her spiritual journey as a Hindu, according to the New York Daily News.

“I guess it’s just like representing me turning over a new leaf and like trying to find myself,” said Cunningham, who refused to cut her locks. “I think they could be a little more accepting of it, and I think they should, because we do live in America and it does kind of boggle my mind a bit.”

Hunt told Fox 13 the school dress code doesn’t address dreadlocks specifically, rather it more broadly bans distracting haircuts.

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“Our dress code says that our students’ hair must have a neat, combed appearance, be appropriate for school, and not be distracting in the classroom, which is pretty similar to what many schools in our area have,” he said.

Meanwhile, American Hindu leaders are speaking out against the discrimination and calling on Hunt and district officials to apologize to Cunningham for religious infringement, MeriNews.com reports.

Rajan Zed, “who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Utah State Office of Education, which oversees the school, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Brad C. Smith to institute an enquiry into this incident,” according to the site.

“Zed stressed that following minority religious beliefs by students should not be ‘distraction’ for any school.”

In a statement delivered in Nevada today, Zed explained many Hindus wear dreadlocks as a “sign of renunciation and disregarding vanity” and pointed out that one of the great triad of Hindu deities, Lord Shiva, wore dreadlocks.

Hunt told Fox 13 Cunningham won’t be punished for refusing to change her hair, but school officials still want to work out a compromise regarding the issue.

“We would be happy to come to a common solution with parents if they have concerns,” he said. “It’s just a matter of having that conversation with us and trying to go through that process.”

Cunningham and her mother, however, don’t plan to compromise, and told the media they’ll transfer the teen to another school, if need be.