No Halloween Parties For Evanston Elementary Schools This Year
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It might be Halloween, but elementary schools in north suburban Evanston won't be celebrating. Halloween parties and parades were canceled this year for all elementary and middle school students.
Evanston/Skokie School District 65 said they're striving for inclusivity, but in their quest to make everyone feel comfortable, some families said they just feel sad.
While some kids and parents in Evanston are disappointed, everyone CBS 2 spoke to seemed to support the change.
"We want to be a more inclusive community, and I feel like if not everyone can celebrate the same way, it's very better not to have anyone feeling left out," Deborah Fagel said.
The district is part of a growing trend; canceling school Halloween celebrations, concerned because not everyone celebrates the holiday, and fearing others will feel excluded.
It's a message the students have heard and apparently understand.
"I feel a little sad, but I also think it is fair, because some people don't celebrate Halloween, and also some people they don't have money for the costumes," 5th grader Alice Brown said.
"I'm just really sad for it to be canceled," 2nd grader Jack Hevner said. "Other people, when they didn't celebrate Halloween, they had to go down to the basement and play games. So the principal said that they feel left out, so he canceled Halloween."
According to the district, some families consider Halloween a cultural holiday, so families who don't participate for religious, financial, or other reasons felt left out.
As an alternative, some schools in the district will be having a fall party instead.