A New Jersey high school sparked controversy after its students picked two girls as homecoming king and queen – and administrators reacted by adding two boy winners.
Some Passaic County Technical Institute students held a “sit-in” on Monday over what they felt was a slight on the females’ victories, northjersey.com reported.
Seniors Zoe Nelson and Jyckell Perez had won the vote for homecoming king and queen, respectively, but school officials expanded the vote to include two more kings for Friday’s homecoming, the report said.
“When I asked, ‘Why am I the only queen,’ they told me, ‘Oh, you’re special,’” Perez told the paper.
Perez accepted the crown on Friday but would-be Nelson protested the last-minute change and didn’t attend, reports said.
Nelson told ABC 7 New York she had been going through a lot of online bullying.
“So it was really hard for me,” she said. “But when I won, I kind of felt like it all went away, it was all worth it.”
Principal Antonio Garcia apologized at the sit-in to Nelson and “everyone that feels slighted,” ABC reported.
“That was not the intention of our decision,” the principal said, according to the station. “We wanted to include more students that were on the ballot for homecoming court. For that I’m sorry, and I apologize.”
The homecoming winners were invited to speak at the next school board meeting, reports said.