LEWISTON – Brent Couture is a 17-year-old high school junior. He’s also a practicing pagan. His religion is based on nature, he explained, “that everything has energy.”

He attends Edward Little High School and takes classes at the Lewiston Regional Technical Center. He plans to work his way through college as a certified nursing assistant. He plans to become a psychiatrist.

On Friday, he was asked to leave LRTC for refusing to take off his feathered mask. He wore the mask to school, he said, because of his religious beliefs.

Being forced to remove his mask or leave was unfair, he said.

“I just felt degraded,” he said. “There’s still discrimination. It’s not right. I felt like I was demoralized and I had no rights.”

School administrators said because of safety reasons, no one is allowed to wear a mask at Lewiston High School or LRTC; it was Couture’s choice to leave. Their policy prohibits masks or any dress that covers the face and hinders identification.

“Safety and security in schools is paramount,” said LRTC Director Rob Callahan. “For us to be able to identify anybody who comes through our doors, students, visitors, faculty, is absolutely critical.”

The vice president of the Maine Pagan Clergy Association said wearing masks on Oct. 31 is a recognized, legitimate practice of the religion, but is not required. “In my opinion, his rights were not violated,” Jane Raeburn said.

Couture explained that Halloween is a high holy day known as Samhain.

The pagan, Celtic calendar is broken into two parts, light and dark, Couture said. Oct. 31 is the beginning of the dark. “It’s believed today the barrier between the spirits and the living breaks down.” On the Samhain, pagans remember their ancestors. It’s a day to bring in the harvest. “After today, everything dies,” he said.

Samhain has many roots in Halloween as it’s known today, he said.

Pagans wear the mask on Samhain to ward off evil spirits and remember the dead. “It’s part of what we believe in, and used on rare occasions.”

On Friday, he had three classes in Lewiston. When he walked into his health science class, his teacher told him to take off his mask or leave.

“I said ‘no. I believe what I believe in,'” he said. “Not that I have anything against Muslims, I thought it wasn’t fair they wear their head dressings and I couldn’t wear a mask. It’s the same thing. . . . It just made me really mad. I felt like I had to choose between my education or religion. It didn’t seem like they cared much. It was just about their rules.”

He felt persecuted because he’s different. “This is supposed to be a country that embraces differences.”

Couture’s mother, Christine Whitehouse, agrees with her son. “I feel like we’re going back to 1600, ‘hang the witches,'” she said.

Administrators at Edward Little, where he was Friday morning, allowed him to wear his mask, he said.

Edward Little Assistant Principal Rob Bennett confirmed Couture was allowed to wear his mask in school, but all students were because it was Halloween. The school normally does not allow masks, but waived that Oct. 31, Bennett said.

Lewiston High Principal Gus LeBlanc said it was the technical center’s decision to send him home, “not mine.”

Both schools have the same policy, which he defended. “There’s 1,400 kids here,” he said. The school has to be able to identify people for safety.

Somali students are allowed to wear head coverings but cannot cover their faces, he said. “The difference is we can’t see his face,” LeBlanc said. “If one kid is wearing a mask, it’s probably not a big issue. But if you’re going to let one person do it, you’ve got to let others.”

LeBlanc said he spoke to Couture on Thursday. The student told him he needed to wear his mask for his religion. LeBlanc checked with a practicing Pagan he knew. “That person said it’s part of their celebration, but it wasn’t a requirement.”

During his 34 years in education, “this is a first for me,” LeBlanc said. The schools’ policies neither try to suppress nor promote people’s religion, LeBlanc said. “We’re neutral.”