It’s fall at Horizon High School. Leaves are changing colors, temperatures are dropping, and kids are watching scary movies, going to haunted houses, or thinking of halloween costumes– but hopefully, not planning on wearing any of these costumes to school.

For years now, Horizon students have not been able to dress up for Halloween at all. Why? Turns out there are a couple of reasons.

Many students have different opinions on the costume battle here at Horizon.

Some students, such as Kandice Agudo (Junior), expresses, “Students should be able to wear costumes because we have the right to freedom of expression.”

Limiting students’ privileges seems unfair, and students have been confused about the reasoning for a while. Schools across the state like Fossil Ridge, Mountain Range, Arvada West, Broomfield, and Legacy are allowed to show their Halloween spirit, after all.

Principal Kim Brady has a very logical explanation that many students misunderstand: “If we had a school where kids were fantastic about wearing their IDs and fantastic about constantly being identified, then it might make the halloween costume battle easier.”

Other schools, such as Mountain Range, are required to wear IDs every single day at school– hence why they are allowed to dress up. Mrs. Brady explained that, by wearing some form of identification, the school can tell who is a student and who isn’t.

However, many students are confused by our school’s decision because we are allowed to participate in spirit days. The answer, though, lies in the essence of school spirit.

Essentially when the school dresses up for spirit days, it is only within the school. Hypothetically, if an intruder entered our school on Nerd Day disguised as a pirate, then that person would stick out like a sore thumb.

This, on the other hand, is not the case for Halloween. Everyone knows the date, and anyone could walk into our school (in any costume)– and the administration would have no way of knowing the difference.

Due to the students around Horizon never actually wearing their IDs, the school relies on identifying students based on looks. On Halloween, that would be a real struggle. Obviously, the school’s top priority is safety– so it is just easier to say “No costumes.”

To some students, this is not the end of the world. Sophie Castillo, Senior and Student Body President, says that if she had the opportunity, she wouldn’t dress up because she would not feel comfortable “but if someone wants to, then I fully support it.”

Mrs. Gonzales, currently a math teacher at Horizon, attended the same school from 1997 to 2001; she was even Valedictorian! She said that when she went to school here, they were allowed to dress up so long as it was school appropriate. However, over the years, safety has become more of an issue and students have gotten more and more risky about pushing the dress code.

Mrs. Gonzales says that she would love the opportunity to dress up, but “understands that the purpose behind it is safety.”

The matter of school appropriate costumes is an entirely different battle in itself. Mrs. Brady explains that, with younger children, this isn’t a problem. A little princess costume is about as innocent as it gets– but “the older you get, the riskier those costumes tend to be.”

It is no secret that high-schoolers will try and push the dress code already, so on a day allowing more freedom than any other (at least as far as what to wear) it can be a nightmare.

Lots of students still love the idea of Halloween, or as they now call it, “Spooky Season.” So, how can our school still get into the spirit of Halloween without costumes?

Alternatively, the baseball team started having their team dress up in costumes for a practice game. This is a fun activity that the school could turn into a bigger and more fun event. For example, the school could have a dodgeball tournament after school, where all the teams are dressed up.

Another student, Sam Cahill (Senior), proposed the idea of students only wearing IDs on the day of Halloween.

Halloween is the start of the holiday season, and many people love this time of year.

“The biggest thing that Horizon students could do if they wanted to change it for next year is be on point with wearing their IDs, all the time, every day,” says Mrs. Brady.

Frustration is understandable in this situation, but there is a simple solution. Students must just keep in mind that everything the school does is for a reason– to keep us safe. And we should honor that.