A Hartsdale school board ban on a Christmas creche on the grounds of the local junior high school evoked strong protests today from many Hartsdale residents. Some 400 signed a protest petition to the school board and called a public meeting against the order.
The board based the new policy, which ended a 20-year practice of such displays at the school, on legal and moral responsibility for the education of all children. This suburban Westchester community has a substantial Jewish population.
“The principle of the separation of church and state is violated by the presence of religious symbols on school grounds and a creche is clearly a religious symbol,” the board ruled.
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