New policy restricts Easter-related symbols
The Indian River School District’s concern over issues of religious expression in the schools — a matter discussed and debated for the past three years — reached new heights this week when officials mandated on Tuesday that no school in the district can host or celebrate the Easter holiday with egg hunts, candy or the Easter Bunny, etc.
The recommendation was made at the suggestion of the district’s administrative superintendent, Susan Bunting, on strong advice from attorney Jason Gosselin. It follows a recent partial legal settlement, announced at last month’s school board meeting, that was an attempt to bring the district’s policy on religion “more in line with the U.S. Constitution” after two Jewish families filed suit claiming the district had pursued pro-Christian policies.
The recommendation, with the ambition to avoid offending non-Christians, resulted in mixed opinions among board members.
“If [the celebration] is strictly Christian, [the schools] can’t do it,” board President Charles M. Bireley emphasized. “If a parent or student decides to bring in candy or chocolate, we won’t stop them, but this is what our attorney advised. [Easter] is not a school-sponsored event.”
“From a personal standpoint,” said board Vice President Reginald L. Helms, “I wasn’t in agreement with this decision. There is nothing wrong with Easter egg hunts and Easter bunnies. As far as I’m concerned, tolerance has gone astray.
“Look at the kids in our district,” he continued. “If you ask 100 children about the Easter bunny, I’d be surprised if 10 of them associate it with Jesus at all. To them, the Easter bunny and decorating eggs means fun and candy. Unfortunately, in our society, we do some stupid things, and I think this is one of them. I think this issue is leaving a lot of people in the district confused.”
Helms offered his thoughts on an appropriate action, other than eradicating school’s participation in the holiday’s celebration.
“My stance is that we should have gone to court with this issue,” he said. “We still have people coming up with opinions. This is far from being resolved. We are still walking on eggshells, so to speak, and no matter what, there’s always going to be somebody who will say, ‘Why are you doing this?’
“All of this stems back to a settlement case that has been ongoing since 2005,” Helms noted. “We’re trying to work with families who felt discriminated against and offended, but we haven’t settled anything.”
The recommendation was a hot topic of discussion on WGMD 92.7’s talk radio on both of Wednesday morning’s shows, hosted Dan Gaffney and Jarred Morris. Indian River School Board member Donna Mitchell took time to call in to Gaffney’s show, to reiterate the situation and voice her opinion.
“We fought long and hard to get as many of our rights as we could,” Mitchell noted, referencing the recent religion lawsuit. “I’m not trying to put all the blame on [Bunting], and I have a great deal of respect for them,” she said of Gosselin, the administration and other board members. “But I have a concern of the direction [Gosselin] seems to be heading.”
Gaffney referenced on his show the religion policy posted on the school district’s Web site, which states that the district does: “Permit the use of religious symbols such as a cross, menorah, star and crescent, Star of David, crèche, symbols of Native American religions, or other symbols that are a part of a religious holiday (including, but not limited to Christmas, Easter, Passover, Hanukkah, St. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving and Halloween) as a teaching aid or resource, provided such symbols are displayed as an example of the cultural and religious heritage of the holiday and are temporary in nature.”
However, it was suggested at the board meeting Tuesday that Easter is the holiest day for Christians — and exclusively a Christian holiday. At Christmastime, other traditions, religions and events are celebrated, while Easter is of solely Christian faith.
“Today’s conversation focused mainly on the idea of Easter and Easter decorations being removed from schools,” noted Morris in an exclusive e-mail interview with Coastal Point. “However, per usual, the same arguments are made each time this topic comes up.”
Morris said his listeners’ reactions to the new IRSD policy on Easter — which he emphasized did not necessarily reflect his own personal opinion — included some of the following observations:
“They often use the argument that ‘We are a nation founded on Christianity and Christian ideas.’ That being said, they believe that doing away with prayer in school and Christian symbols and speak in school is literally destroying the fabric of our country. They often make comments of: this is the way it’s always been in Sussex County and others want to change things. They often use the term ‘us’ to refer to Christians.
His listeners often argue, he said, “Also, that the removing of prayer in school and God from our daily lives is what is responsible for the degradation of society. They often say that the reason there is so much crime; so much drug use; so much violence; ‘kids bringing guns to schools’ is because ‘in the old days’ you were taught about God, you prayed in school, you had that background. Without it, some suggest, violence and evil permeate society.
“The third argument, that I have a much more difficult time finding a counterpoint to,” he said, “is that (paraphrase) ‘Our tax dollars pay for the schools, we elect our school board members, they should do what we want them to do.’”
Helms also noted his concern with children who grew up celebrating the holiday in schools.
“There’s no difference that I can see between wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day and kids celebrating Easter with candy and egg hunts,” Helms said. “If you ask 10 people about an issue, you’re going to get 10 different opinions.
“Either way, the cat’s out of bag, and we have to deal with the issue,” he acknowledged. “It’s time we stand up. It’s not that we want to evangelize the world, but the kids are caught in the middle of it and it’s not fair. They don’t know what’s going on.”
Mitchell and Helms, who represent District 5 on the school board, are both up for re-election — something that also concerns Mitchell.
“People are going to have to make a decision as to who they want representing them, and they need to ask people what they believe in. And I personally am not willing to give up things that I have fought for when it is not wrong to do these things… I see all of our rights going right out the window,” she said.