The Westwood Regional School District, which serves the Borough of Westwood and Township of Washington here in Bergen County, NJ, hosted a forum last week for the public to voice their opinions regarding religion, including holiday decorations, in school. According to the Pascack Press, Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller was moved to hold the session in response to "a number of emotional exchanges between the public and Board of Education at the board's Dec. 20 meeting". The article, reproduced below, states that no one at the forum objected to the idea of "decorating with secular holiday decorations".
Can someone please show me a "secular holiday decoration"?
The following is reprinted with permission of the Pascack Press
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON
Parents call for secular decor, religion classes
BY LAURIE KAPLAN OF PASCACK PRESSOn Jan. 15, the superintendent of schools of the Westwood Regional School District, Geoffrey Zoeller, along with Dr. Matthew Murphy, director of elementary education, and a number of other administrators held a forum for the public to speak on issues regarding religion in school and the displaying of holiday decorations.
Zoeller said he decided to hold this forum as a result of a number of emotional exchanges between the public and Board of Education at the board's Dec. 20 meeting. The forum was held to gauge where the public stands in terms of education about religion in the classroom, holiday decorations and celebrations revolving around holidays and cultures.
"This is a very important and heartfelt issue," said Zoeller. "As Dr. Murphy has pointed out to me, wars have broken out from issues like this."
The superintendent further explained, "It is my intention to put together a policy regulation that's prescriptive. That we can hand to our professional educators in the classroom, not just the principals, and give them some very specific guidelines on how we're going to approach these issues in the future."
One resident who has two children in the district said he just wants the holidays to be festive and fun for the kids.
"A Christmas tree is a secular item," he said. "I've done a lot of research on this subject and from what I've read, a menorah can be secular too, so to have a Christmas tree and a menorah displayed in the lobby of a school, to me, is not a big deal, and whoever else wants to be displayed - the star of Ramadan, etc. What I would like to see are signs displayed that read `Merry Christmas.' `Happy Hanukkah,' `Happy Ramadan,' and then maybe a sign over all of them saying `Happy Holidays'...I mean, we went to the `holiday' concert but it was so sterile. There was nothing festive about it. People were playing nice music and they were doing a good job, but we want festive."
One child in the district said, with three others agreeing, "I think we're trying to oversimplify everything and taking the fun out of it. Eventually my fear is we're not allowed to permit shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day, or forget the hearts on Valentine's Day."
One Jewish woman who has two kids in the district was also in favor of holiday decorations of all kinds.
"I think the holidays should be recognized. We don't live in a vacuum. We go out and look at the Christmas lights every year. Kids love it and they love to see the festivity. It's not teaching religion. We're just saying the holidays are here."
Another mother said, "Our kids don't see black, they don't see white, they don't see red. I can't talk to my son about other religions because I don't really know about them, and if we are trying to teach our kids about diversity and peace on earth, then aren't we doing the exact opposite by not allowing the celebration of the holidays in school?"
A number of other parents spoke at the meeting, and not one objected to the idea of decorating with secular holiday decorations.
Thoughts expressed at the public forum will be put compiled with thoughts of the professional educators and submitted to the Board of Education's attorney, who will review the ideas and make sure they are compliant with federal law, New Jersey law, and case law. They will then be given to the Board of Education so a policy can be drafted.
Zoeller said he decided to hold this forum as a result of a number of emotional exchanges between the public and Board of Education at the board's Dec. 20 meeting. The forum was held to gauge where the public stands in terms of education about religion in the classroom, holiday decorations and celebrations revolving around holidays and cultures.
"This is a very important and heartfelt issue," said Zoeller. "As Dr. Murphy has pointed out to me, wars have broken out from issues like this."
The superintendent further explained, "It is my intention to put together a policy regulation that's prescriptive. That we can hand to our professional educators in the classroom, not just the principals, and give them some very specific guidelines on how we're going to approach these issues in the future."
One resident who has two children in the district said he just wants the holidays to be festive and fun for the kids.
"A Christmas tree is a secular item," he said. "I've done a lot of research on this subject and from what I've read, a menorah can be secular too, so to have a Christmas tree and a menorah displayed in the lobby of a school, to me, is not a big deal, and whoever else wants to be displayed - the star of Ramadan, etc. What I would like to see are signs displayed that read `Merry Christmas.' `Happy Hanukkah,' `Happy Ramadan,' and then maybe a sign over all of them saying `Happy Holidays'...I mean, we went to the `holiday' concert but it was so sterile. There was nothing festive about it. People were playing nice music and they were doing a good job, but we want festive."
One child in the district said, with three others agreeing, "I think we're trying to oversimplify everything and taking the fun out of it. Eventually my fear is we're not allowed to permit shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day, or forget the hearts on Valentine's Day."
One Jewish woman who has two kids in the district was also in favor of holiday decorations of all kinds.
"I think the holidays should be recognized. We don't live in a vacuum. We go out and look at the Christmas lights every year. Kids love it and they love to see the festivity. It's not teaching religion. We're just saying the holidays are here."
Another mother said, "Our kids don't see black, they don't see white, they don't see red. I can't talk to my son about other religions because I don't really know about them, and if we are trying to teach our kids about diversity and peace on earth, then aren't we doing the exact opposite by not allowing the celebration of the holidays in school?"
A number of other parents spoke at the meeting, and not one objected to the idea of decorating with secular holiday decorations.
Thoughts expressed at the public forum will be put compiled with thoughts of the professional educators and submitted to the Board of Education's attorney, who will review the ideas and make sure they are compliant with federal law, New Jersey law, and case law. They will then be given to the Board of Education so a policy can be drafted.
greetings
ReplyDeleteThe Westwood superintendent merits approbation forseeking input from the parent community. But notice how religious symbols need to be neutered to pass in a multi-religious climate.
ReplyDeleteThe desacralizing of religion is one
powerful reason to keep government (of which public schools are an arm) out of the religion business.
COMMENT sent to the Westwood Regional School District superintendent and the Pascack Press editor:
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the proposal being considered by the Westwood Regional School District to dress the public schools with "secular" holiday decorations. Dictionary.com defines "secular" as "of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred." Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs, stars of Ramadan and other religious decorations are, by definition, religious and therefore non-secular. To call a Christmas tree a "secular holiday decoration" is disingenuous. One would no more expect to find such a tree in an observant Jewish, Muslim or atheist home than one would expect to find a menorah or a star of Ramadan in a Christian home. This is because all such iconography is by its nature devotionally religious.
Our great country has thrived on the ideal of the separation of church and state. We should celebrate our religions at home and in our places of worship and let the schools remain impartial.
Ken Karp