Clown costumes banned at Newark schools

NEWARK - Students at Newark City Schools can't wear certain costumes to school as Halloween approaches after instances of people dressed as clowns threatening violent behavior have been reported throughout the country.

Newark Superintendent Doug Ute said the district asked students and adults not to wear clown costumes to school.

"Given the uneasiness of our students a month ago to the situation. We want to make sure our students feel comfortable at school," he said.

Ute said no parents had raised concern, but rather, the district's staff members decided on their own not to allow clown costumes.

Heath City Schools Superintendent Trevor Thomas said the district allows students from kindergarten through fifth grade to wear costumes to school, and while the district didn't ban clown costumes specifically, students cannot wear masks and must have appropriate face paint.

Thomas said he wasn't expecting to have any problems with the Heath Middle School or Heath High School students.

Thomas said the district also does not expect students to wear clown costumes to Heath's football game against Johnstown on Friday night.

"We have not even discussed that," he said.

In September, three people were arrested in Heath after reportedly wearing clown masks and yelling out car windows at other people.

Three arrested for making threats in clown masks

According to court records, police were called after multiple people reported seeing a car driving around the parking lot of Heath High School. At least three people inside the vehicle were said to have been leaning out the windows, wearing clown masks and yelling that they were going to stab people.

Earlier this month, Pataskala police investigated after a 13-year-old student at Licking Heights Central Middle School posted on social media that clowns were going to come to the school and hurt students. The student was interviewed by police, but the Licking County Prosecutor's Office declined to press inducing panic charges, noting the school was not evacuated and there was no real threat.

Pataskala police investigate clown threat at school

mdevito@gannett.com

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Twitter: @MariaDeVito13