© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Bangor Principal: Hello Kitty Christmas Tree OK to Display

Catherine Gordon
/
Courtesy photo
Catherine Gordon's Hello Kitty Christmas tree.

BANGOR, Maine — The principal of Bangor High School has reversed a decision that went viral on social media and got picked up by national media outlets.

Principal Paul Butler now says that he'll allow one of the school's teachers to place a pink Christmas tree back on display. Though the controversy has been resolved, the incident raises questions about what guidelines schools should follow for holiday decorations and what symbols are considered religious instead of cultural.

Bangor High School math teacher Catherine Gordon loves decorating for the holidays.

"Because I teach math and that can be kind of a dry subject," she says, "so anything you can do to engage the kids is a good thing."

She has displayed trees ever since she started teaching 30 years ago. About 10 years ago, Gordon switched from the traditional green to a 3-foot Hello Kitty-themed pink tree.

She says she consciously avoided religious symbols to make the decoration more secular and inclusive.

"No crosses, no stars, no angels," Gordon says. "And I just thought it was pink and fun."

So she was surprised when Butler asked her to take it down last week.

"In the guise of being inclusive and tolerant of everyone, which is a wonderful thing, we really have become intolerant of everything," Gordon says.

Credit Catherine Gordon / Courtesy photo
/
Courtesy photo
Catherine Gordon's Hello Kitty Christmas tree.

After she lamented the removal of her pink tree on Facebook, news of the incident spread on social media. By Tuesday afternoon, Bangor High principal Paul Butler reversed his decision.

In a written statement, Butler said that after he reviewed various perspectives, he satisfied an important responsibility — to "ensure that the sharing of any one tradition ultimately highlights the universal nature of holiday celebration."

The tree, he said, does that and can be displayed. Gordon is thrilled at the news.

"His job is not an easy one, and I was really happy that he made the decision that he did," she says.

Robert Trestan of the Anti-Defamation League agrees that determining which holiday decorations are appropriate and which aren't is a challenge for schools.

"Schools need to be really careful about between not crossing the line between teaching about religious holidays, which is permitted, and celebrating religious holidays, which is not permitted," he says.

The Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue, says Trestan, and Christmas trees are not considered religious. But he says that's not a blanket permission slip to put them on display. Schools must also consider the context and circumstances of their classrooms and community.

"We have to ask ourselves, is the classroom the best place to put a Christmas tree, even though the Supreme Court has ruled it is not a religious symbol?" he says.

Above all, Trestan says, students must feel comfortable and accepted.

"If you use common sense and agree to find some common ground when there are disagreements, I think that's the best approach, and that seems to work for us," says Dan Demeritt, a spokesman for the University of Maine System, which experienced a holiday decoration kerfuffle on its Orono campus last year after a University official sent an email that said no Christmas or religious decorations should be displayed in public areas.

Demeritt says the email unfortunately also coincided with the end of an annual Christmas-tree themed fundraiser.  When it was over, the trees were taken down.  Students promptly organized a "Save Christmas at UMaine" event, and school officials clarified their position on holiday decorations.

"Well you don't favor any one if you're open to all, and that's sort of the approach," Demeritt says.

Bangor Schools Superintendent Dr. Betsy Webb said in a written statement Tuesday that, like most schools, Bangor doesn't have a written policy on holiday decorations. But she says the school department's goal is to "promote understanding of traditions, holidays, and cultures while adhering to the First Amendment."