When Halloween goes wrong. Two Virginia HS administrators are in hot water over their politically charged Halloween costumes. According to WVTR, parents of students at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton were outraged over Principal Mark Rowicki and secretary Stephanie Corbett’s costume choices. The two decided to dress as Donald Trump and an imprisoned Secretary Hillary Clinton respectively.
A photo of the two made its way onto the school’s website in a Halloween photo album depicting students and staff. Rowicki and Corbett may now face disciplinary actions for their lack of judgement. Superintendent Dr. Linda Reviea released a statement that read:
It is a longstanding tradition of Staunton City Schools—and of many school divisions across the United States—to allow students and staff to engage in festive activities and dress in costume for Halloween. That said, the particular costumes worn by two employees at R.E. Lee High School were in poor judgment, given the current political climate and the extraordinarily strong sentiments for the 2016 presidential candidates. I became aware of the situation on Tuesday night and instructed our staff to remove the images in question from Lee High School’s website today (Nov. 2). We are handling the situation as a personnel matter and addressing the issue with relevant staff.
According to Rowicki, the school encourages the students to dress up and he wanted to connect with the children as part of the festivities. Lame. Regardless of whether he or Corbett truly wanted to connect with the students, they are adults and should know better. This issue has nothing to do with their political leanings, that is irrelevant. Wearing those specific costumes makes a political statement and was bound to get parents upset. What they probably thought was cute, harmless and funny may now have unintended consequences.