The Patriot Post® · Principal to Students: No Christmas for You

The Grinch tried to steal holiday cheer at one Brooklyn school, where Eujin Jaela Kim, the principal at Public School (PS) 169, wanted to make sure political correctness takes precedence over religious semblance. The New York Post reports, “Santa Claus is banned. The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited. ‘Harvest festival’ has replaced Thanksgiving, and ‘winter celebrations’ substitute for Christmas parties.” Those were the changes made after “[a] memo last month from assistant principal Jose Chaparro suggested a ‘harvest festival instead of Thanksgiving or a winter celebration instead of a Christmas party.’ He urged staff to ‘be sensitive of the diversity of our families. Not all children celebrate the same holidays.’” According to PTA president Mimi Ferrer, “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.” The Brooklyn Department of Education bans things that “depict images of deities, religious figures or religious texts.” And according to Johanna Bjorken, the business manager for PS 169, “Santa Claus is considered an ‘other religious figure.’” However, “[A] DOE spokesman told The Post that Santa is allowed as a secular figure,” and the school has traditionally included him. So the choice was made solely by Kim, who, as a member of the grievance industry, is being insensitive to most of her 1,600 students in the name of “inclusivity.” Here’s a question: If you can’t follow the traditions of Thanksgiving and Christmas, why celebrate them at all?

Fortunately, political correctness got run over by a reindeer. Common sense prevailed, and the school has tossed the principal’s policy. “I apologize for any confusion this may have caused,” Kim said. Confusion, indeed.