Oregon Grade School Removes Christmas Tree

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - An elementary school in Oregon removed its Christmas tree after complaints about the tree being a religious symbol.

Some families in the town of Ashland made the complaints and principal Michelle Zundel decided to take down the tree during Thanksgiving break. She replaced it with two snowmen, saying they were neutral decorations.

"The Christmas tree, while a secular symbol according to the Supreme Court, does symbolize Christmas, and if you are entering a public school and your family does not celebrate Christmas, then it feels like a religious symbol," Zundel said. "A snowman is created by children at play in the snow, and so it doesn't have a particular religious bent."

"I was confused. It didn't make sense," countered Allison Hamik, a parent in the community. "I don't see it as a religious symbol, I see it as part of our cultural traditions of the holiday season, we put up a tree and we decorate it. By law, that tree did not need to come down. It was her personal opinion that it needed to come down."

Zundel said she has created new guidelines for holiday decorations, including a ban on Santa Claus decorations and trees. Those guidelines will be discussed in a meeting this week.