Joy of Christmas

A proposal to take the “Christmas” out of “Christmas Break” was voted down by the Shelby County school board Thursday.

“Perhaps I am the lone voice,” said board member Fred Johnson, who urged the board to change the wording on the calendar to something that would include all religions.

Following the approval of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school calendars, Johnson made a motion to reconsider the Christmas wording.

Teresa Price was the only board member to vote with Johnson.

“We are a very diverse county. We serve all kinds of children from all different backgrounds,” she said.

Ernest Chism abstained, saying, “There’s no use doing things to create a problem.”

Johnson needed four votes from the seven-member board. Since he first proposed changing the wording to “Winter Break” a week earlier, board members have been swamped with concerns.

“I went to church and I was inundated,” said board member Ron Lollar, “People were upset it was even brought up.”

Jamie Griffin co-founder of Diversity Memphis, a multicultural group that works to build tolerance in the area, spoke at the meeting.

“It is important we represent a county that is very diverse, and not all members of that county are Christian,” he said.

Johnson is also one of several co-founders of that organization.

Upset with the publicity the topic has generated, Johnson would not take questions after the meeting.

And he wouldn’t say whether he intends to continue what he started. “I’m just not prepared to make any statement at this point.”

Memphis City Schools have called the December vacation ”Winter Break” for years.

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