Parent frustrated after Kitchener school bans clown costumes
Posted Oct 25, 2016 12:00:35 AM.
Last Updated Oct 25, 2016 08:17:14 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A local father is speaking out after his daughter was told she could not wear a clown costume to school in Kitchener.
Kitchener resident Jeffrey Merkus tells 570 News that he is frustrated after his daughter received a letter from Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Catholic Elementary School saying students are not allowed to wear clown costumes to school on Halloween.
“The letter says ‘We are asking that no clown costumes be worn on this day’ but my daughter says it was made pretty clear in the classroom that no clown costumes would be allowed. It’s just frustrating as we worked on the costume for awhile now and aren’t allowed to use it.”
Merkus says he and his kids make their costumes from scratch, and it took them some time to make his daughter’s clown costume.
“My daughter is in Grade 7 and likes scary movies so she’s at the age where we’ve watched a couple of classics– and she really liked Stephen King’s ‘It’. She wanted to be Pennywise for Halloween, and that’s something we do together– build costumes– so yeah, it’s all very frustrating.”
Merkus adds that he and his wife do plan to talk to the school to see if they can change their minds.
The Waterloo Region Catholic District School Board said earlier this month that it’s up to individual schools to decide if they’re going to ask parents to refrain from sending their kids to school dressed as clowns, in light of all the reported “creepy clown” sightings in our region.
