MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. -- A seventh grade student who was suspended from school for dying her hair pink was able to return to classes on Monday.  Amelia Robbins says she dyed her hair as a tribute to her father, who died of cancer.

  A letter sent to the school district from an American Civil Liberties Union office in St. Louis late last week requested that Amelia be allowed back.  An attorney argued in the letter that student expression is a protected right.
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To read the letter from the ACLU, click here.

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Edited e-mail message from Amelia’s stepfather:

I would like to thank KY3 for the exposure and interest in our child getting suspended from Mountain Grove Middle School last week. Without your involvement she might still be fighting to be let back in. She has won her cause, and gets to keep her pink hair, also allowing other kids to express themselves with hair color or styles. She will be allowed to make up all missed work, and will still be on the volleyball team.  The school's lawyer said this was all just a big misunderstanding.  She would like to try to work on cancer awareness projects, since such a small issue got so large so fast.  She feels that she might be able to help someone.
Josh Virtue

After missing four days of school, Amelia was thrilled to be back in class. She said other students were surprised to see her.

Last week, school officials told the 7th grader not to return until she changed her pink locks. They said the color was distracting and violated school policy.

"That policy has about 10 different areas with things that could be distracting to education that we just can't tolerate because we are trying to educate 1500 kids here,” said Tom Johns, the district’s director of support services.

By Friday, Amelia was invited back, pink hair and all. While school administrators can't comment on specific cases, Amelia's parents think the letter from the ACLU played a role in their daughter's case.

In the letter, the civil right's group demanded the school stop its disciplinary action against Amelia, allow her to return to school and expunge her record. A deadline was set for 3 p.m. Friday.

By 3:30 Friday, the ACLU called Amelia's parents. The school's attorney had contacted them and said this was just a huge misunderstanding and Amelia would be allowed to return to school on Monday.

So it's back to the books for Amelia, who says she colored her hair not to be different but rather out of devotion to her father, who died from brain cancer. She believes pink is the color of cancer and looking at her locks reminds her of her father.

Her stepfather and mother have been behind her all the way but that support hasn't come without critics.

“Well, she's only 12.” “You are bad parents.” “Why don't you just follow the rules just like everybody else had to follow the rules?” are some of the things that Josh and Leigh Ann Virtue say they’ve heard from others.

In spite of the criticism, the Virtues believe their daughter did the right thing, and they say her father would think so too.

"Amelia was his pride and joy. I know that he is very proud of her,” said Leigh Ann Virtue.

A school spokesman said rules prohibit him from talking about specific cases like Amelia's, so he couldn't confirm whether the ACLU's letter was the reason that she was allowed back to school.