Calgary school faces backlash for not allowing Halloween costumes, backtracks

A Calgary school has changed course after it received backlash from parents for a notice that said kids could not wear costumes on Halloween.

The email was sent out Sunday to parents of Terry Fox School junior high students and included a note about Halloween and how students should leave costumes at home.

Lisa Clark is one of those parents, and she was dismayed by the email.

“How unfair is this to all the kids that look forward to Halloween and participate in it every single year,” Clark said.

“Each year it’s been a question of who dressed as what, what did you guys do today. I know that they didn’t have any activities based around Halloween, but the children were still allowed to dress up, show up, and be what they wanted to be for Halloween.”

The school email message cites CBE Cares, a tool “to advance equity, anti-racism and inclusion within the CBE and at Terry Fox School.” The website lists questions that would be asked to make sure school activities are inclusive.

The email from the principal said that it is “not a tradition” that is celebrated elsewhere.

“While we recognize that some families may choose to participate in Halloween-related activities at home, it is not a tradition that is celebrated universally for various reasons,” said Terry Fox School principal Leslie McRae.

“In consideration of the questions above and in support of student learning, Terry Fox School will not be holding Halloween activities and we ask that costumes be reserved for at-home use.”

After receiving backlash from parents over the weekend, McRae sent out an update Monday.

In it, McRae said she shared a “list of considerations” to help the school and parents understand how they celebrate Halloween and said that “Our approach to Halloween this year is the same as in previous years.”

“I would like to make it clear that every student is welcome at Terry Fox School. All students will be welcomed into class whether they decide to dress up in a costume or not,” McRae said.

“It is still the case that Halloween will not be central to our educational programming and there will not be planned activities based around this theme. However, we respect the traditions of individual families and how they wish to celebrate the day.”

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Clark says the response backed away from taking any responsibility.

“Instead of doing the right thing and saying ‘Hey, you know, we’re wrong to not seek input from our students and their parents,’ [to] ‘we’re just going to go ahead and ignore what we said,’ I feel like it’s just a cop-out is what they’re doing,” Clark said.

Lisa’s son is planning on wearing his costume to school for Halloween and she says he would have regardless of the policy.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) says there is “nothing new” with how Terry Fox School operates Halloween.

“Similar to past years, every student may choose whether they want to wear a costume (or not) on Halloween. The principal has confirmed this approach with families,” said a CBE representative in a statement.

“There is no systemwide policy on celebrating Halloween at CBE schools, and it is up to principals to determine how to best recognize these types of events depending on the individual context at their school.”