Boy's ouster at dance sparks policy debate

Three weeks after a Hampton, N.H., seventh-grader was asked to leave a school dance because he was wearing a Santa Claus costume, local school officials are determining whether the student should have even been allowed to exit the building.

"They never should have let him leave," said the boy's mother, Leslie Lafond. "It was 7:30. It was pitch black."

Bryan Lafond went to a Hampton Academy Junior High School holiday dance last month dressed as Santa with permission from his parents. When he arrived at the dance -- which school administrators said was a "semiformal" event -- he was asked to leave by principal Fred Muscara, according to Leslie Lafond. She said she saw her son standing outside in his costume as she was driving away and that she turned around to pick him up.

Leslie Lafond said Muscara told her son that his costume was inappropriate because it was religious.

Muscara declined to comment about the incident.

James Gaylord, superintendent of New Hampshire's SAU-21 regional school system, said Bryan Lafond was not asked to leave the building, but that he was asked to change his clothes.

Gaylord said the assumption was that Lafond had clothes on underneath the Santa costume and that he could simply remove the costume and return to the dance.

Gaylord said the incident highlighted that the school has no rule about leaving events, and that he agrees with Leslie Lafond that a policy would be helpful in the future.

The superintendent said he is working with the School Board for the Hampton Academy to create a policy preventing students from leaving school events without a ride or permission from administrators.

"We found out there is no policy," he said. "The principal did not break any rules."

Gaylord said that as of now, he does not expect a policy to be written about whether the Santa costume was appropriate for the dance based on the separation of church and state. He said the outfit was inappropriate because the event was supposed to be a semiformal, not a costume party.

Leslie Lafond said the issue of the Santa suit should be discussed. She said she believes her son was not dressed inappropriately and that the principal's concerns about the costume reflect a problem with political correctness.

"The issue of the Santa thing is outrageous," she said. "It was a holiday party. He didn't go as Baby Jesus."

In Beverly, Ayers Ryal Side Elementary School was also in the spotlight this holiday season after it performed, "How the Grinch Stole the Holidays," adapted from the Dr. Seuss classic, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

The Beverly performance featured references to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

When the Grinch character steals the holidays, he not only removes Christmas presents but also a menorah, said Ayers principal Sue Charochak.

Charochak said that although her school's play was discussed by the public after a parent called a local radio show to say the new title was too politically correct, she has yet to receive a complaint about the more neutral show.

She said the show takes the place of a school concert, with the holiday songs simply woven into the Dr. Seuss storyline.

"I don't believe it was originally done with the thought it would be an issue," she said, of Christmas being in the original title. "It's just an adaptation."

Leslie Lafond said she is not raising concerns about her son's treatment at the dance to lay the groundwork for legal action against the school system. She said she has no interest in going to court.

Instead, she said she has spoken out so the school system can make appropriate changes and rethink its policies. She said her son feels the same way.

"He's like, 'OK, no more, I'm done,' " she said. "Unless Oprah calls."

Meredith Goldstein can be reached at mgoldstein@globe.com.