Killeen trustees last night voted 6-1 in support of a principal’s decision to require an employee to remove her "Peanuts" decorations from a school nurse’s office door. The clinic aide’s Christmas decorations depicted Linus in a scene from "A Charlie Brown Christmas," quoting the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus.

Earlier:

Killeen district officials, under fire for forcing an employee to remove her "Peanuts" Christmas decorations from a school nurse’s office door, will discuss the matter Tuesday after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton decried it as a violation of the First Amendment and state law.

The principal at Patterson Middle School told clinic aide Dedra Shannon to take down a portion of her handmade door decorations that depicted Linus in a scene from "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Shannon used a Bible verse that Linus cited in the cartoon: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. … That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

In the scene in the cartoon, Linus is responding to Charlie Brown’s question, "Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

Shannon said she put up the decoration Dec. 5 and two days later the principal told her the poster had to come down because it might offend students from other religions or those without religious beliefs.

"I’m saddened that Killeen ISD forced me to remove my Charlie Brown Christmas display," Shannon said in a statement provided by Texas Values. "I believe it is discriminatory to not allow Christians, like myself, to put up a display that is simply an expression of the story of Christmas."

The Killeen administration has so far defended the principal’s decision.

"Our employees are free to celebrate the Christmas and holiday season in the manner of their choosing," the district said in a statement. "However, employees are not permitted to impose their personal beliefs on students. The display in question was a six-foot-plus tall door decoration in the main hallway of the school building, and included a reference to a Bible verse covering much of the door. Upon review, it is clear that this display was not in keeping with the Merry Christmas Bill (House Bill 308), which requires that a display not encourage adherence to a particular religion."

Paxton said the district’s actions violated state law and the First Amendment, and he called on the school board to reverse the "unlawful decision." He also said Shannon and her decorations are protected under the so-called Merry Christmas Law passed by the Legislature in 2013.

"We passed that law precisely because of this type of discrimination against people of faith," Paxton said last week in a statement. "No school official in Texas can silence a biblical reference to Christmas. This is an attack on religious liberty."

The nonprofit religious advocacy group Texas Values, which is providing legal representation to Shannon, said the clinic aide had done nothing illegal. A letter sent to the district said the "Charlie Brown Christmas" display is no more an establishment of religion than the Pledge of Allegiance.

"It’s amazing that even a quote from ‘Charlie Brown’s Christmas’ is not even safe for some overzealous or misguided government officials," said Jonathan Saenz, Texas Values attorney and president.