In North Carolina, No Less

'Christmas' Missing From School Calendar Angers Residents | NBC17.com

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – "Christmas" or "holiday?" Which one should school systems use on their official calendars?

The choice made by the New Hanover County Board of Education has angered some Christians in the area.
The 2011-2012 calendar approved by the board at a meeting November 9 does not list Christmas or Easter. Instead, each is recorded as "holiday."

"I think that they've offended a lot of people," said Theresa McCoy, owner of Cox Christian Bookstore. "[They have offended] the Christians who love God and the Christians that want to talk about Christmas."
Board Chairman Ed Higgins said he asked his fellow board members if anyone wanted to discuss the calendar before they voted last month, but no one did. He believes Christmas should be recognized.

"It is a holiday," explained Higgins. "And if we are going to put other holidays that are generally recognized by the general public as holidays, I don't understand why we would make a distinction about this one."

According to school board emails, the board's legal counsel "advised" them not to list religious holidays.
However, one parent upset about the changes wrote that the board's decision hurt the country's heritage.
"Our nation is losing its moral fabric one minute at a time," he wrote. "A lot of small decisions like you have made on this calendar chip away at our Judeo/Christian heritage."

The parent went on to argue that if the school system lists the names of other holidays, like Labor Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he believes they should also list Christmas.

Board members Janice Cavenaugh and Jeannette Nichols requested the issue be put on the agenda for the school board's meeting December 7.

Meanwhile, Bladen County, Brunswick County, Columbus County and Pender County Schools all list "Christmas" on their official calendars.

A calendar published by the New Hanover County Schools Public Relations Department lists all religious holidays throughout the year.

Click here for a link to that calendar, http://www.nhcs.net/calendar/10_11DistrictWideCalendar.pdf.

Visit this page to review the district's official calendar, http://www.nhcs.k12.nc.us/calendar/11_12tradcalendar.pdf.