Christmas Cut from School Choir Program

KELLER, Texas - Christmas by any other name is just not the same.

At least that’s what the mother of a Chisholm Trail Intermediate School sixth grader thinks. She managed to put some of the spirit of Christmas back into her son’s holiday choir program.

Carissa Johnson said her son Steven has been working all year on his choir program. He’ll sing a solo in the song “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

“When my dad was a kid he actually sang the same solo as me and I though it would be really cool if I could sing that,” Steven said.

But the whole thing hit a sour note for the 11-year-old when his school told him the word winter would replace Christmas in the song.

The Keller Independent School District said it walks a fine line on religious issues and has to be careful not to push any religious belief over another.

“There’s still the issue that their policy identifies Christmas in the grouping of winter religious and customary holidays,” Johnson said.

In a statement the district lists several holidays including Halloween and Thanksgiving, but instead uses the term “winter religious / customary celebrations” in place of Christmas.

The statement also says “instruction involving holidays should remain neutral in nature without direct evidence of religious preference.”

Eventually the Keller ISD stepped in to take the chill off and told Steven’s mom his school misinterpreted the districts regulations. Christmas is back in the lyrics.

“They agreed to put it back in on the basis of copyright laws,” Johnson said. "She also advised me that they were probably gonna remove some other songs to keep it culturally balanced and probably have to add some other songs."

The district said it must remain sensitive to everyone in its very diverse population.