Massachusetts School Bans Religious Gift from Holiday Store

In Massachusetts, Chelmsfords Byam (elementary) School has a gift store that is open around various holidays. But for the December "holidays" the school bans anything "to do with a religion or a religious celebration," and the ban includes Santa, candy canes, and red & green colored items.

We have a great number of commercial establishments in the USA that make a great deal of money around the Christmas season. Some of them are sensitive about the baby Jesus and such, so they limit their decorations and themes to items considered to be a general celebration rather than a religious one. Those items might very well include candy canes and Santa(s).

So what exactly is the school celebrating in December if not a religious holiday? Are they or are they not observing the National Holiday of Christmas? That holiday falls on Friday this year, which is normally part of the school week. Will the Byam school be holding classes that day, if it does not wish to recognize Christmas?

The original article that alerted me to this is no longer on the Lowell Sun site, but the title was "Happy holidays, Chelmsford kids! (Just leave the Santas and candy canes at home)." Here is a discussion of it from another source:

Moms Fight School Store's Religious Item Ban