BOURNE – The menacing clown phenomenon across the country that has been fueled by social media has made its way to Cape Cod.
A message was sent to parents in Bourne after a high school student brought a clown mask to school earlier this week.
Bourne Superintendent Steven LaMarche says administration worked with Bourne Police and the student’s family to address the matter, which was determined to be non-threatening.
“It was a poor decision,” LaMarche said. “It did disrupt our school because of what is going on in the Commonwealth as well as nationally so we had to address it.”
Authorities across the country are being forced to take all the clown reports as a potential threat to public safety, particularly incidents are schools.
Several hundred University of Connecticut students gathered Monday in a cemetary, ready to do battle with clowns they had heard were lurking among the headstones. Police determined those rumors were a hoax.
Similar incidents have been reported at schools across the nation. At Penn State University more than 500 students showed up early Tuesday to hunt for clowns.
LaMarche said the school is going to take these incidents seriously.
“We’re not going to tolerate individuals who want to jump on this trend,” he said. “It’s not appropriate for us at Bourne Public Schools and for our students or our community.”
The message to parents stated, “All events that threaten the security of any of our schools are responded to and we work closely with the Bourne Police Department as the safety of our students is our top priority.”
LaMarche said rumors that spread around social media after the incident, like students were forced back into the school from recess, were not true.
Other Cape Cod school districts have also sent out messages to students and parents that such behavior won’t be tolerated.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
Material from the Associated Press was used in this story
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