11-year-old banned from school for shaving head in support of friend with cancer

A student from Caprock Academy in Grand Junction, Colo., was banned from school because officials said she violated a very strict dress code after she shaved her head as a means to support a friend with cancer.

Kamryn Renfro, with the consent of her parents, went bald in support of 11-year-old Delaney Clements, who is undergoing chemotherapy due to neuroblastoma - a form of child cancer.

Renfro told 9News that she believes what she did was the right thing to do.

Renfro's mom, Wendy Campbell, said she didn't realize that hair was such an important aspect of a child at school.

"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 said.

The school remains adamant, however.

"Caprock Academy does have a detailed dress code policy, which was created to promote safety, uniformity, and a non-distracting environment for the school's students. Under this policy, shaved heads are not permitted," said Catherine Norton Breman, president and chair of Caprock Academy's board of directors.

Caprock Academy said in a statement that sometimes exceptions can be made to the dress code policy under extraordinary circumstances, which Campbell hopes include her daughter's.

The academy's board of directors will be meeting Tuesday to discuss the issue.

"It made me feel very special and that I'm not alone. 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," Clements told 9News in an interview.