Student Apologizes For Wearing KKK Costume To Worcester School
WORCESTER (CBS) - A student who wore a Ku Klux Klan costume to Worcester Technical High School on Thursday apologized and said she did not mean to offend anyone, the school said in a statement.
The student dressed up in the costume as part of "Super Hero and Super Villain" day at school.
"There should have been a line not to cross and I feel like that villain was not the right villain to pick," a student said.
The school says the student, who was not identified, entered school with a robe on. Before school began, she put on the rest of her costume and took a photo with her friends.
A teacher immediately told her to remove the hood of her costume and keep it off for the rest of the day.
"The teacher informed the student that while her costume technically represented a villainous character in history, her costume choice represented poor judgment and was offensive to the Worcester Public School community," a spokeswoman for Worcester Public Schools said in a statement.
Student Jared Parretti took a photo of the girl in her costume and posted it on Twitter.
"It was obviously outrageous," Parretti said. "People would look at her and just be like speechless because they wouldn't know what to say. Who would honestly dress like that?" Parretti said he would not identify the student.
Worcester Public School Superintendent Dr. Melinda J. Boone was "appalled" and says the situation was handled professionally and swiftly.
Worcester Public Schools is now reviewing the "appropriateness of the use of costumes" in the district.
In June, President Barack Obama spoke at the Worcester Tech graduation. The president chose to speak at the school because of its remarkable turnaround.
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