Nebraska school that declared J-shaped candy canes 'too religious' pulls yearbook with cross on its cover
The decision of Manchester Elementary School in Ohama, Nebraska to print inspirational words shaped in the form of a cross on the front cover of its 2018-2019 yearbook has triggered a controversy.
The decision to have the cross-shaped design reportedly featuring words like love, dream, imagine and faith was made by fifth graders at the school who voted in support of the idea.
However, when the book was printed, an issue was raised about the religious imagery on its cover before the yearbook was handed out to the students.
A spokesperson for Elkhorn Public Schools, Kara Perchal, said that the leaders of the school's parent-teacher organization (PTO) then decided to remove the design from the cover.
The parent-teacher organization reportedly reprinted the yearbooks without the cross shape and just blue sky as the cover. The organization's president Andrea Abrahamson, while talking to the Omaha World-Herald, said that the board had "voted unanimously to reprint the cover as it was not sensitive to our all-student agenda.”
The Elkhorn School District had earlier made headlines in December after its principal, dubbed "The Grinch", was placed on leave for banning J-shaped candy canes representing "Jesus" and other Christmas-linked items.
The yearbook incident sparked anger online, with one person writing on Facebook: "I never imagined that Elkhorn PTO members would cave to political correctness – shame on each of them for having such a lack of consideration for the children who chose the cross for THEIR yearbook cover. This is pathetic leadership and they should all resign their positions immediately.”
The host of 'The Todd Starnes Radio Show' and 'Starnes Country' Todd Starnes took to his website to state that there was something sinister going on in the school district.
“It was bad enough when they banned the Baby Jesus, but now they want to completely eradicate anything remotely related to the Christian faith,” Starnes wrote on his website. “That is culture jihad at its worst, America.”
It is not yet clear who or if any adults authorized or oversaw the printing of the yearbook cover.