A Vancouver woman says her 11-year-old daughter was told she and her friends could not put up Hanukkah decorations at her school for the holiday season.

Sheila Sontz says her daughter Maya, who is in Grade 6, and the other children wanted to put Jewish decorations such as a menorah in the school, which currently has a tree, wreaths and other Christmas-themed items on display.

But Ms. Sontz said the principal at General Gordon Elementary School told Maya that Hanukkah decorations were not allowed because they are religious and explained that a Christmas tree, a cultural symbol, is not.

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Ms. Sontz said she was shocked.

"The whole story of Hanukkah is one culture trying to stamp out any trace of another culture. It wasn't a war of people trying to kill people, they were trying to kill the culture. ... It's ironic that that's exactly what's happening here," Ms. Sontz said.

"The principal actually said to us that Santa Claus has no association with Christianity, and I'm like, but 'Santa' means 'Saint.'"

She said she feels the children are not asking for much: They want their culture and religion to be fairly represented.

"My tax dollars are paying you and you're disregarding us," Ms. Sontz said.

Calls to the school for comment were redirected to the Vancouver School Board.

The board issued a statement on Friday in which chair Janet Fraser said what happened was an "unfortunate misunderstanding," but did not offer an explanation. The statement did not address the complaint that the school had prohibited Hanukkah decorations or whether it had done anything to respond to the concerns raised by Ms. Sontz and her daughter.

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"Our schools honour and recognize diverse cultural holidays and celebrations," Ms. Fraser's statement said. "We are proud to have wonderfully diverse communities in our schools and that creates tremendous opportunities for our students to learn about other students' backgrounds and cultures."

Neither Ms. Fraser nor a board spokesperson responded to requests for an interview.

The statement said the children of General Gordon Elementary will soon decorate the halls with drawings of what is important to them at this time of year.

Ms. Sontz noted that the Vancouver School Board has an inclusion policy, but said she feels the school is not following it.

The board's multicultural and anti-racism policy says: "Perspectives of all cultural groups must be included to encourage all students to develop pride in their own identity and to value the cultural identities and ancestries of others."

Richard Menkis, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia with expertise in religion and modern Jewish history, said describing something like a Christmas tree as a cultural symbol, rather than a religious one, implies that it is neutral.

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"I think to claim that something is a cultural symbol, when in fact it's a cultural symbol that's completely rooted in one tradition – namely Christianity – is just not appropriate, or is not honestly looking at what that symbol is about," he said in an interview.

"The tree, etc., are all clearly explicitly relating to Christmas, and so that's a religious tradition."