School Criticized For Slow Response After Report Of Hijab Being Pulled Off

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling out a north metro middle school for what it calls a "lack of response" following an alleged incident where a Muslim girl's hijab was pulled off.

The girl's family reports that the incident happened Friday at Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids, CAIR-MN says, adding that the school didn't respond until Tuesday.

"School officials must take immediate actions to ensure that all students, regardless of their faith or ethnicity, are provided a safe learning environment," said Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-MN, in a statement. "It should not take days to respond to an apparently bias-motivated assault on a student."

The Anoka-Hennepin School District, of which Northdale is a part, released a statement in response to CAIR-MN's accusations, saying that the story the group presents is inconsistent with the district's understanding of the situation.

The district says that Northdale officials started an in-depth investigation promptly after hearing about the incident. Citing data privacy laws, however, the district didn't detail what happened, only saying that it was was an isolated incident and not bias-motivated.