Elementary schools move away from fall celebrations, spark debate

Prior Lake American

A bisecting debate on the value of traditions, celebrations and culture in school began with a post to the "Concerned Citizens of Prior Lake" Facebook page.

On Sept. 16, Prior Lake resident Missy Perry Littman posted on the "Concerned Citizens of Prior Lake" page that she had gone to a parents' meeting at Jeffers Pond Elementary in Prior Lake. The elementary is part of the Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools district.

Littman, who has a child in second grade at the school, was told that the school would not be hosting a Fall Harvest or Halloween celebration in October and would instead celebrate with Environmental Education, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or E-STEM, activities throughout the season.

"The more and more I thought about it, it just didn't make sense to me," Littman said. "So I wondered how other people would feel about it. ... People are not happy at all. I suspected that would be the case."

Inclusivity and tradition

Jeffers Pond Elementary Principal Karoline Warner said a specific Fall Harvest or Halloween celebration was replaced in order to be more inclusive of families who do not or cannot celebrate the season.

"In the past, we've had some students who are not able or don't attend the activities because of lots of different reasons — some of them religious or cultural reasons," Warner said. "We really wanted to provide an opportunity that's inclusive of all students."

None of the elementary schools have celebrations specific to Halloween. According to Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools Communications Director Kristi Mussman:

• Five Hawks Elementary School will have a celebration on or near Oct. 31 without costumes.

• La ola del lago Spanish immersion school will have a Fall Harvest celebration on Oct. 31 in the last few hours of the school day without costumes, but students and staff are invited to wear fall colors.

• Redtail Ridge Elementary will have fall-themed learning activities on Oct. 31 without costumes.

• WestWood Elementary will have one-hour Fall Harvest celebrations on Oct. 31 with games, E-STEM or craft activities and snacks but no costumes.

• Grainwood Elementary will conduct a read-a-thon, but there will be no celebrations or costumes on Oct. 31.

• Glendale Elementary will have a Fall Harvest celebration with E-STEM learning activities on Oct, 26, without costumes. "We will work hard to maintain fun themes and opportunities throughout the year to celebrate our learning," Glendale Principal Jennifer Molitor wrote in a letter to parents.

• "One thing we're certainly doing is beginning a process, led by elementary principals, that's going to involve parents and teachers and students as we move forward to really get to that consistent practice to ensure that future things we do are inclusive and meet our district mission to educate all learners," Warner said.

In the meantime, some residents are pushing back against the changes. Spurred on as a result of the discussion on her post, Littman started a petition on Change.org to "Save the Fall Harvest tradition" on Oct. 31 for the elementary schools in the district.

As of Oct. 1, the petition had 1,724 signatures.

"We can't simply ban everything that makes everyone uncomfortable," Littman said. "That's a parent's job to explain to a child how sometimes beliefs set you apart — and that's not a bad thing. If you're trying to include everyone in everything, it's teaching them differences are a bad thing."

The changes are themselves intolerant, Littman added.

"Tolerance isn't a one-way street," Littman said. "Perhaps the other side of the street needs to give a little and show some tolerance."

Some parents said a celebration shouldn't be the priority of the district.

"Safety and learning should be the school's responsibility, not whether or not our children have costumes on," said Tanya Ploeger, who has a child at La ola del lago. "I can do that on Halloween."

Prior Lake resident Erin Kucinski said she used to work at a different school district as it was eliminating costume parties on or around Halloween from the schools.

"I can tell you firsthand it alleviated so much stress on all teachers, made students feel included, and there were ample opportunities for kids to dress up and celebrate Halloween in the community and go trick-or-treating," Kucinski said. "The kids had a blast, and I promise you they had fun even though they were not dressing up in costumes and participating in Halloween-themed activities."

'Biased assumptions'

While most of the comments on the post in the Facebook page debated the merits of the celebrations and the priorities of the district, some focused on the religious beliefs of those who don't celebrate Halloween.

Halloween began as the Celtic festival Samhain, where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to frighten ghosts, according to History.com. Due to its roots, the holiday isn't celebrated by certain religions or groups, including Jehovah's Witnesses, some Christians, Orthodox Jews and Muslims.

"It is the stated strategy of some to use our own laws against us," reads on comment on Facebook. "Wake up people. Nothing is an 'American Tradition' anymore. (And many who move here aren't doing so to become American)."

Another comment asked "Who is ruining traditions?" The response from a different person, which has since been deleted, read: "Muslims."

Kucinski said statements such as these are "very hurtful to people who are equally American but may be of a different culture, religion, or hold different beliefs than those who are making these comments."

"This discussion has emboldened certain voices in our community to make sweeping biased assumptions against groups of people that may or may not be the ones that are holding their kids home from school," she said. "Does it matter what group or groups are keeping their kids home and missing a fun celebration at school? No."

Littman said it's anyone's right to not celebrate a holiday, though others don't have to follow suit.

What's next

Warner said parents disappointed about not being able to volunteer in the school for a celebration will still be able to sign up and help with the E-STEM activities.

Examples of those activities include having students build their own musical instruments or different engineering challenges such as creating something that is propelled by wind power, Warner said.

Littman said she will continue to fight against the decision by speaking to the Prior Lake-Savage Area School Board on Monday during the public forum portion before the meeting.

"We would like to invite anybody who would like to show up to that meeting," Littman said.

Costumes are optional.