School District Rescinds Christmas Music Ban On Buses
by Jim Brown
December 14, 2004
(AgapePress) - An Illinois school district has reversed a policy that prohibited bus drivers from playing Christmas music while children are aboard their buses. The Woodland School District in Gurnee, Illinois, had told its bus company that Christmas music was not allowed to be played because it might be an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity. Then, after local media got wind of the story, district superintendent Dennis Conti seemed to change his tune, claiming the music ban was implemented for "safety" reasons. In any event, at a special meeting last week, the school board instructed Conti to lift the ban.
Sandy Hartogh, a Woodland mom who had threatened to sue the school district over the ban, is upset that Christmas seems to be under attack in public schools around the U.S. "The nation is putting a kibosh on Christmas and the real reason for the season," she observes, "and I don't know if it's because everybody is trying to be so politically correct and not offend anybody or make sure to include everybody -- but I think it's gotten to the point where Christianity is being pushed out of the picture."
Hartogh is suspicious of the district's current explanation of its actions. She says a "reliable source" informed her that the school board was referred to the school administration's policy on religious and holiday displays when the music ban was originally initiated. So Hartogh feels Superintendent Conti contradicted himself when he argued that the ban was necessary for child safety.
"If he had justified his decision to the school board about the music ban based on a religious policy," the Illinois parent says, "then why all of a sudden, on Wednesday when the press got involved, was he telling them it was a 'safety' issue?"
Hartogh says she and many other concerned mothers and fathers in the Woodland district are pleased that the political correctness in their school system has been curbed, at least for the time being. In a recent WorldNetDaily article, she noted that the school board is now actively addressing issues of religious equality and allowing the holiday expressions of many cultures, religions, ethnic faiths and organizations "as they should."
However, while the Woodland school district's music ban has been lifted, similar prohibitions are still in place in other school districts around Illinois. Christmas holiday symbols and expressions have recently been censored public schools in Evanston and also at an elementary school in Spring Grove.
