After a DVJournal report on the district ordering school bus drivers to stop wearing Christmas-themed clothes or displaying Christmas decorations, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District superintendent declared the story a misunderstanding.
Superintendent Wagner Marseille told the school board at a meeting on Monday that the memo obtained by DVJournal was actually a “significant breakdown in communications.” He said some parents claimed to be upset that a few of the decorations and music on some of the district buses were heavily focused on the religious aspects of Christmas.
In the district’s memo to bus drivers, Supervisor of Transportation Patti Diaferio mentioned the complaints referenced by Marseille.
“If you have decorated your buses with anything specific to the Christmas holiday or any other decorations relating to a specific religion, please remove them immediately. In addition, employees are instructed not to wear clothing related to Christmas or any other religious holiday,” Diaferio wrote.
Also, “District offices and schools buses are to refrain from playing Christmas music or any other music related to a specific religion…It applies to all district employees,” the memo read.
