Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — A flashing message calling for passers-by to "Remember the Reason for the Season" has been removed from Lincoln Southeast High School's electronic marquee.
Because of the message's Christian implication — the saying usually is that "Jesus is the reason for the season" — Principal Patrick Hunter-Pirtle instructed staff to remove the message on Tuesday.
"It shouldn't have been up there," he said Wednesday. "That phrase is associated with Christianity. We have Jewish students here, and we have Muslim students here. I don't want anybody to feel like we're favoring a religion. I don't want to exclude anyone, and we work hard at that."
Although the message had been displayed for several days, Hunter-Pirtle hadn't noticed it until receiving a phone call about it from ACLU-Nebraska Executive Director Laurel Marsh. A school employee had included the "reason for the season" phrase as part of a revolving "Happy Holidays" message, he said.
The ACLU was alerted to the sign by a World-Herald reporter who called to ask if anybody had complained about it. The marquee is along a well-traveled city street near the school.
Marsh said public schools don't have to ignore Christmas — the federal courts have said schools can provide "secular instruction about religious traditions." However, public schools should not "promote" the religion. That's where the sign may have crossed a line.
"What 'reason for the season' leaps to your mind?" she asked rhetorically. "It would be very difficult to read that and not take it as a reference to Christianity. It's a kind reference, a gentle reference, but nonetheless a reference."
Lincoln lawyer Jeff Downing, who has defended schools and cities in cases involving religious expression, said the school probably overreacted by taking down the sign.
"I think it's a completely defensible thing to have on a school kiosk at this time of year," he said. "It could have a meaning for one observer that's completely different from the next observer who looks at it."
Downing said schools are put in a difficult position because federal law is vague on many aspects of the issue. He did not agree with Marsh's conclusions about the marquee's message.
"That's certainly not an overt religious statement that would have spelled trouble for the school, in my opinion," he said.
John Neal, director of secondary education for Lincoln Public Schools, said the district recognizes the importance that students and their families place on religious celebrations throughout the year. However, the school district serves families from many different religious and cultural backgrounds. The district keeps a multicultural calendar to remain aware of the hundreds of different celebrations throughout the year.
"I completely understand Dr. Hunter-Pirtle's decision to remove the sign," he said. "We don't want to look as if we're trying to establish one celebration or deny others' ability to celebrate."
Hunter-Pirtle said the Christmas holidays can be hard for non-Christian students. "If you're a Jewish student, you can get sick of all the references to Christmas," he said. "I'm fine with 'Happy Holidays,' but that ('reason for the season') shouldn't have been up there."
Contact the writer:
402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com
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