Controversial Christmas display atop school building goes to board vote. Grinches won't like decision.

A Michigan school board voted to keep a controversial Christmas season display atop a district building that depicts the three wise men of the Bible heading toward a star in anticipation of Christ's birth, WOOD-TV reported.

 

The Newagyo Public Schools Board of Education held a special meeting on the topic Monday evening and heard public comment, the station said, adding that it seemed virtually everyone among the dozens of attendees supported leaving the display on the roof of Newaygo Elementary.

 

'Please leave our wise men alone'

"Please leave our wise men alone," parent Michael Burns told the board, WOOD noted. "Look away if it offends you."

"It's not overly religious," Newagyo resident Wayne Kauffman added to the station. "It's appropriate, and it's one that we've enjoyed as a community for many years."

Some said the annual display has been going up for over 70 years, WOOD reported.

Why did it turn into a controversy?

The Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists demanded last month that the display should be removed because the group believes it violates the separation of church and state. The association has been involved in similar state cases, WZZM-TV reported.

"It clearly conveys the message of the Christian nativity," MACRA's Mitch Kahle told the news outlet, adding that his group got involved following one person's outcry.

"We were approached by a complainant from the area," Kahle added to WZZM.

 

But the district told WOOD it hasn't received any such complaint. 

What else?

The board handed the matter over to the superintendent to ensure the display aligns with the district's values and noted that changes to the display may be coming, WOOD reported.

"This community has said loud and clear even before tonight's meeting that they want the display to stay," Superintendent Peggy Mathis told WOOD. "So we will look at ways to maybe make that happen, maybe enhance it, so it can stay."

 

She added to the station that she hadn't decided what changes, if any, could be made, but that it's unlikely anything will happen before Christmas.