The principal of a public elementary school in Brooklyn, New York has banned the celebration of Christmas and Thanksgiving, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and the putting up of Santa Claus decorations to the utter dismay of teachers, parents and schoolchildren.
Eujin Jaela Kim of the PS 169 Sunset Park School in Brooklyn has banned traditions in the school, with "harvest festival" replacing Thanksgiving and "winter celebrations" replacing Christmas parties, according to the New York Post.
"We definitely can't say Christmas, nothing with Christmas on it, nothing with Santa. No angels. We can't even have a star because it can represent a religious system, like the Star of David," PTA president Mimi Ferrer said.
Assistant principal Jose Chaparro issued a memo last month suggesting that the school hold "harvest festival instead of Thanksgiving or a winter celebration instead of a Christmas party," adding that the school staff should "be sensitive of the diversity of our families" considering that "not all children celebrate the same holidays."
The school has about 1,600 pupils who are 95 percent Asian or Hispanic.
The city's Department of Education issued a directive stating that it allows holiday symbols including Christmas trees, kinaras, dreidels, Hanukkah menorahs and the Islamic star-and-crescent but prohibits those that "depict images of deities, religious figures or religious texts."
But according to a memo by school business manager Johanna Bjorken, "In case you are wondering about grey areas: Santa Claus is considered an 'other religious figures.'"
However, an education spokesman said Santa is a secular figure and should be allowed. Santa has been a traditional holiday figure at the school.
Joseph Iorio, a long-time assistant principal and the acting principal before Kim, said state Assemblyman Felix Ortiz visited the school dressed as Santa Claus "many times."
He said he would tap student leaders to lead the Pledge of Allegiance every Monday morning. But when Kim arrived, the pledge ended.
The DOE spokesman said classrooms can recite the pledge "at the teacher's discretion," but the school teachers said Kim did not inform them about this.
When Kim became principal in May 2014, her first time, she ordered the faculty to clean the classrooms of "clutter" and she moved books and supplies to the gym where parents and the community took what they wanted.
Staffers said Kim also dumped boxes of newly bought reading books in the basement as she preferred another curriculum.
The principal also bought seven flat-screen smart TVs that retail about $3,000 each and placed them in the auditorium.
Ferrer said, "It was ridiculous. They have never been used."
