BARTLETT, Tenn. — Some parents are outraged after they said a school’s theme day pushed the envelope a little too far in their eyes.
Homecoming week was supposed to be full of fun, but not everyone is laughing after pictures of some pretty inappropriate villains hit social media.
Wednesday started as Villain Day at Bartlett High, and for some things quickly turned as dark as the day’s theme.
“The Hitler person was standing in the building of Bartlett High and saluting,” parent Sherita Miller said.
The school says the theme was supposed to give students the chance to dress up as their favorite comic book bad guy, but it went further than that.
“The kid dressed in the Hitler, to me that is just totally out of line for this day and age and for everything that is happening,” parent Dan Talley said.
“It offends a large group of people.”
WREG began receiving calls about the controversial photos making their rounds on social media.
“I saw the slave master person in uniform and we can see the school in the background, we see children with Bartlett High shirts on,” Miller said.
School officials said one student who was wearing a police officer costume was in fact asked to change because that costume caused a disruption to the learning environment.
The school released this statement about the costume controversy. Bartlett City Schools said hallways and classrooms were heavily monitored throughout the day, but they never saw or received complaints about the other controversial costumes in question.
“They say they didn’t see it, whether they saw it or not, we saw it, and that’s a problem,” Miller said. “Those pictures were taken at the school not off of school grounds.”
During homecoming week, each day has a theme. Those are picked by the student government and supervised by administration.
School officials encourage parents to reach out to them if they have any concerns about the costumes that were worn Wednesday.