Baby Jesus Back At Horsham School
Superintendent Overturns Principal's Decision
POSTED: 7:30 PM EST December 17, 2003
UPDATED: 7:25 AM EST December 19, 2003
Hatboro-Horsham School Superintendent William Lessa will allow a Nativity scene previously barred from an elementary school to return to its place next to Hanukkah and Kwanzaa exhibits.
Lessa made the announcement to a jubilant crowd assembled for a concert at Horsham's Dorothea Simmons Elementary School on Thursday night.
The crowd broke out into a huge round of applause when Lessa made the announcement. After the concert, a tired Lessa declined to comment on the decision.
" I think it was the right decision to make," said one parent. "You know, it's a majority of people have an issue with it and we should go by that. I think he made the right decision. "
Earlier Thursday, Lessa told NBC 10 that he was consulting with legal and education experts, as well as parents, about the earlier decision made by school principal Karen Davis to bar the Nativity scene.
The small nativity scene was put in the lobby display case at the school in Horsham, but the principal had it removed.
"I thought that it went over the top and overboard," said Principal Karen Davis. "I thought it was especially inappropriate for a public school."
"A nativity scene was inappropriate to have displayed here," Davis said. "I thought that there were other symbols to represent Christmas that weren't as religious in nature to display."
Davis allowed a Christmas tree in the lobby of the school, along with a Menorah and items representing Kwanzaa.
Davis said Kwanzaa isn't a religious holiday and the Menorah is much of a cultural symbol as it is a religious symbol.
"Judaism is not just a religion, it's a culture, also," Davis said. "I felt that the nativity scene was definitely promoting Christianity."
But a lot of people at the district's middle school concert believe a nativity scene is more than a religious icon.
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Lessa initially said while public nativity scenes are constitutional, it's a gray area over how much church should be allowed in school, and he wants to err on the conservative side.
"To even begin to imply that the acknowledgement of a nativity is inappropriate doesn't sound right to me," Lessa said. "That's not the message I want to send. The question is, 'Is it appropriate in a public school setting?'"
Lessa left the door open to reverse the decision, which he did after nearly two days of controversy.
Also on Thursday, an organization representing Catholic civil rights threatened to sue the school district if the creche wasn't returned to the display case.
Parents at the concert also supported Davis despite her original decision.
"I think Karen Davis is a excellent principal.," said another parent. "She has nothing but the best interest of the school and kids at heart. I don't think she would intentionally slight or offend anyone. "
The superintendent said that the Nativity scene will stay up through the end of the holiday but he wants to revisit the topic later the year.
http://www.nbc10.com/education/2712441/detail.html