Parent, school debate use of religious song

A Columbia Falls parent said perhaps it’s time to reconsider a school policy concerning the use of religious songs during the Christmas season.

Lucy Beltz’s son, Oliver is in the fifth grade at Glacier Gateway Elementary School. Oliver Beltz objected to playing “He is Born” as the one and only song the class would perform this holiday season.

Beltz doesn’t believe in Jesus.

The children in Marlene Hanson’s music class wouldn’t actually sing the song, however. They would play the music on small xylophones, it would be recorded and then sent home to parents, noted school principal Penni Anello.

Anello said she approved the use of the song and other classes were performing songs with religious themes, like Kwanza and Hanukkah.

Lucy Beltz approached the school and wondered if there was something else her son could play.

The answer from school officials and the teacher, Beltz claimed, was no.

“There’s other holiday music that doesn’t say ‘He is Born,” Lucy Beltz said.

But Anello said performing the song adheres to school policy on religious songs.

“School programs performances and celebrations must serve and educational purpose. The inclusion of religious music, symbols, art or writings is permitted, if the religious content has an historical or independent educational purpose which contributes to the objectives of the approved curriculum. School programs, performances and celebrations cannot promote, encourage, discourage, persuade, dissuade or discriminate against a a religion or religious activity,” the policy, in part, states.

In short, Beltz claimed her son was told “You don’t want to play this song, you’re out of here.”

Anello disputed that Beltz’s son did not have an alternative, which was to play the song or do nothing.

“We did offer choices for him, as we do for any child that does not want to participate in specific programming.  We offered an alternative activity on music theory in this instance I offered for Oliver to select a different song to learn to play.  Lucy chose to keep her son home during the music class,” Anello said.

Superintendent Dave wick said the policy has been on the books for years.

Beltz said perhaps it’s time to re-examine the policy.

Wick said he was open to that, but it’s up to the parent to bring concerns to the school board formally, which would start the discussion.

Beltz hadn’t done that as of Monday, he noted.

Beltz said she did decide to keep her son home from school on days when there was music class, which meant he would simply attend school a bit later twice a week.

But she said her broader issue was with student inclusion in a time when there’s a coronavirus pandemic and so many people feel isolated.

“Of all the years ... we need to be including students,” she said.

But coronavirus concerns contributed to the problem. In a typical year, students in each grade sing several holiday songs in a concert. If a child objects to one, they sit it out.

But this year, the school didn’t have special masks approved by the Centers for Disease Control that allow students to sing concerts, so Hanson had them play an instrumental instead, Anello explained.

By playing an instrumental, it took more time to learn the song, Anello said. There wasn’t time to teach them to play more than one.

The irony, Beltz noted, is her son has taken piano lessons since kindergarten and enjoys performing.