A school district in suburban Chicago is thinking about either renaming traditional Holidays or suspending them outright because of complaints of an Arab-American parent.

There was some heated discussion between parents outside Columbus Manor Elementary School in Oak Lawn on Friday. The thought of no more traditional holiday celebrations has many parents really upset.

For now, children in Ridgeland School District 122 will celebrate fall festival instead of Halloween and winter festival instead of Christmas.

Brenda Elvidge said, “It’s not fair to our kids. This is America and that’s an American tradition.”

The decision affects the children at four elementary schools in Oak Lawn and one junior high school in Bridgeview.

The superintendent says that the public schools should be “neutral” with holidays. However, Muslims are allowed to pray in school.

Superintendent Tom Smyth said, “I go back to our policy which says that public schools are to remain neutral in this respect.”

Meantime, Arab children are being allowed to pray during what’s being called their own time, that’s lunch time, during Ramadan.

Parent June Quigley said, “They get to pray in our schools. That is religion in a public school.”

To me, praying in school is a much more blatant breaking of neutrality than hanging Santa Claus or the Star of David in the schools. I’m all for separation of church and state. But, our country was founded on Christian ideals and mores. Our traditional holidays should be allowed in the schools as they have been for previous years.

Once again, I go back to the key word when immigrating to our country: ASSIMILATION. The Irish had to do it. The Italians had to do it. The Japanese and Asians had to do it. Now, so do the Muslims. They have to do it too. This is America, not the middle east.