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Texas AG interprets state's Merry Christmas Law in dispute over school employee's poster

A U.S. stamp from 2015 depicts a scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Image from Oldrich / Shutterstock.com.

A Bible-quoting poster made by a school nurse’s aide in Killeen, Texas, has led to a disagreement over the meaning of the state’s Merry Christmas Law.

On the one side is the board of the Patterson Middle School, which met on Tuesday and backed its principal’s decision to ask the nurse’s aide to remove the poster, report the Washington Post and the Killeen Daily Herald. One the other is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who says the school district wrongly interpreted the state’s Merry Christmas Law.

The poster created by nurse’s Dedra Shannon drew from the annual television special A Charlie Brown Christmas in which Linus tells Charlie Brown about the meaning of Christmas. Shannon put a picture of Linus on the poster along with a quote from the Bible, Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” Under that was written Linus’ quote, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” A picture of the poster can be seen here in the Washington Post article.

The Merry Christmas Law at the center of the dispute says school districts may display symbols associated with traditional winter celebrations, if the display includes a symbol of more than one religion, or a symbol of one religion and at least one secular scene or symbol. The display can’t include a message that encourages adherence to a particular religious belief.

The law also says school districts may educate students about the history of traditional winter celebrations, and allow students to offer traditional greetings regarding the celebrations.

The school district argues the poster violated the law because it promoted Christianity without also acknowledging secular symbols or other religious traditions.

Paxton, however, said in a letter to the school district that the law “explicitly grants school districts the option of educating its students about traditional winter holidays, the meaning of these holidays, and how they are referenced in history and pop culture, which A Charlie Brown Christmas certainly satisfies.”

The school board vote to uphold the decision to remove the poster was 6-1. The board did agree, however, to recommend a study on the issue.

A lawyer for Shannon, Jonathan Saenz, said after the meeting that the “school board has gone rogue and is now in a very dangerous place.”