Dodgeville district firing back over Christmas controversy

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=70272

The Dodgeville School District, accused in December of launching an
"attack on Christmas," has counterattacked the accusers.

In a sharply worded letter from its lawyer, the district this week
demanded a widely distributed apology, a retraction of claims the
school's policies are "hostile" to the U.S. Constitution, and
$23,899.48 in damages from the Liberty Counsel. The Florida-based group
grabbed national publicity and solicited donations based on its charge
that a Dodgeville elementary school had "decided to eliminate Christmas
from the Christmas season."

The district and media debunked the charge and the program went on,
holiday-appropriate music and all, but under strict security.

The group threatened lawsuits and ignored the truth even after the
school posted on its Web site an explanation of its program, the
district charged in a letter to Liberty Counsel.

"Your dissemination of false and misleading information and your
threats of specious and frivolous litigation resulted in enormous cost
to the district. You have yet to present the facts either through a
press release, one of your 'alerts' or through any other means. You
used this red herring to attempt to collect money through the form of
donations," the district's lawyer, Eileen A. Brownlee, wrote in a
letter to Mathew D. Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel.

The letter chronologically details contacts with the group, which had
named the district's Ridgeway Elementary School winter program as its
"exhibit A" in the "war on Christmas."

Staver on Wednesday called the district's requests "ridiculous," and
said if the district had simply contacted Liberty Counsel directly
after its first letter, the entire affair might have been cleared up
immediately.

But Diane Messer, Dodgeville superintendent, said the group never asked
for a reply or for an explanation in its first letter, never checked
its facts and even got its final statement wrong, when it issued a
press release incorrectly claiming the school "dumps" a song, "Cold in
the Night," and "returns" to "Silent Night."

Contrary to Liberty Counsel's information in a string of press
releases, "From the beginning," wrote Messer to the group Dec. 13, "the
program has included the singing of religious songs with their original
lyrics. Yes, 'Silent Night' will be sung. 'Cold in the Night' will not
be sung." Instead, that song was narrated.

Messer, in an interview Wednesday, said Liberty Counsel exploited
incorrect information for a publicity advantage, disregarding the
truth.

In one press release, Staver said the school district "intentionally
mocks Christian Christmas songs."

Comments like this were "what in part incensed our district and our
School Board," said Messer.

"We answered his question, he chose to frame it differently, focusing
on 'Silent Night.' As a result, that is where he made his errors. That
and . . . not verifying the facts of the matter.

"I am surprised that he has chosen this approach, since he is
representing a Christian organization that certainly would uphold the
Ten Commandments. He is not honoring the commandment that thou shalt
not bear false witness."

Staver was unapologetic.

"I wish they would have called" in response to his first letter, Staver
said.

"Hindsight is 20/20. I wish they would have let us know about their
press release on their Web site. Communication would have been very
helpful. That is why we sent the first letter," he said.

Messer provided a copy of the letter from Liberty Counsel as evidence,
that the letter did not request a reply, information or explanation. It
did say, "Please contact us if we can assist you in changing current
practices or policies in the district."

Staver continued to claim that "Messer and the rest of the school
should have or could have and were requested to call us to resolve any
alleged misunderstandings that they say there might have been, but they
did not do it."

The group describes itself as a "national public interest law firm
specializing in constitutional law, particularly free speech, religious
freedom and church-state matters." The group, registered in Wisconsin
as a tax-exempt charitable organization, is also active in legal
battles against gay marriage and abortion.

The story was bandied about by national and local columnists and on a
national conservative television show. After an initial round of
exposure based on the Liberty Counsel release and resultant barrage of
e-mails and calls to the school, the media reported the
headline-grabbing accusation, that a hallowed Christmas carol had been
"secularized" by the Dodgeville School District, was false.

Staver blamed the district for the confusion.

"They never clarified any (issue) until we were well into this matter,
and now they say they have incurred costs. They ought to be glad they
didn't incur a lawsuit," said Staver.

"It is ridiculous they even think we would pay a bill."

The bill, described by Messer as " compensation for damages on behalf
of our taxpayers," includes $20,376.43 in compensation costs for 469.5
hours put in by district staff, $2,539.65 for law enforcement, $407.40
for buses and $576 for lawyer fees.

Though the Liberty Counsel said in its first letter it had been
contacted by "concerned parents" in the Dodgeville School District, and
in another letter it had been contacted by "additional parents" in the
district, Messer said no parents complained directly to the district.

Staver said his group's broad concern was the school policy on
"ceremonies and observations, religious holidays," which he said was
"problematic."

The policy in part says that materials and activities cannot "promote
religion," and plays cannot be used to "convey religious messages."

"Plainly," the group accused, "someone misunderstood the policy to mean
that 'Silent Night' could not be sung because it conveys a religious
message."