An independent investigator has concluded that a parent’s long-running tussle with the Vale School Board over the word Christmas was an effort to “force or retain religious “speech in public schools.
The recent report, commissioned by the Vale School District’s attorney, addresses a formal complaint filed in December by April Johnson, a Vale parent.
Johnson, a former substitute teacher, accused Superintendent Alisha McBride of censorship in violation of the First Amendment. She claimed that McBride entered into a “secret agreement” with Andy Hally, president of the Vale Education Association, the local teachers union, to change the district calendar in a way that violated district policy and suppressed Johnson’s religious expression.
Johnson also said McBride violated the district’s policy around gathering community input before changing the calendar.
Keith Ussery, a licensed private investigator from Dallas, Oregon, was retained to investigate Johnson’s grievances. The district paid nearly $10,000 for his services, according to McBride.
In a 100-page report that included interviews with Johnson, McBride and school board members, Ussery wrote that his investigation found that Johnson presents her tussles with the district as a battle for “religious freedom.” In fact, he said, it was an attempt to force or retain religious terminology into public education under the guise of resisting secular bias.
He said Johnson herself made that point in her complaint. He cited what he found to be a key portion from her submission: “To illustrate my point further, I would like to state that I want more religion in society and therefore public education,” she wrote. “That is my culture war.”
That statement was “telling,” he wrote.
Ussery concluded that Johnson was not seeking to preserve neutrality or protect constitutional rights but to compel the school system to adopt a specific ideological stance.
“The district, however, is under no obligation to shape its official messaging around any religious tradition,” Ussery wrote, “nor would doing so be legally or ethically defensible.
Using “inclusive” language such as “holiday break” instead of Christmas is not an “attack on religion,” he wrote. It is a “measured response” to ensure all students, staff and families are served without “preference or exclusion,” Ussery wrote.
Johnson, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but wrote in a Jan. 30 email that she wants more religion in schools by way of “cultural studies, music education, and history lessons.”
In the email, Johnson also wrote that when she teaches, she does not go into the classroom and teach a “Sunday School lesson.”
Ussery said he found no evidence that McBride and Hally met behind closed doors to broker a “secret agreement.”
During an interview with McBride, Ussery wrote that he learned that McBride holds monthly meetings with Hally. During one of those meetings in 2021, Hally relayed a concern voiced by a local teacher in the association that using the term Christmas was not “inclusive,” given that not all students practice Christianity, his report said.
McBride then researched how other schools, colleges, and public entities approached naming break periods on official calendars, according to Ussery.
District officials brought draft calendars for feedback from parents, staff and the community. He noted that after reviewing past meeting minutes and agendas, he found that the community had multiple opportunities to review calendars. Ussery wrote that Johnson told him that she attended some of those meetings.
Ussery wrote that Johnson appeared to equate providing feedback on policy, such as a potential district calendar, to casting a ballot. He wrote that the public comment period is a “mechanism to gather perspectives.”
The final decision rests with the school board, he said.
McBride said she was “grateful” the board released the report to the public.
“I believe the report offers a comprehensive analysis of the situation and presents conclusions grounded in facts,” McBride said. “By providing this level of transparency, the report has helped correct misinformation and address inaccurate statements that have circulated.”
Ussery wrote that he found no evidence that McBride or the district censored Johnson’s speech by changing the name of the break on the calendar.
He said that school documents such as the annual calendar do not constitute a public forum and are not obligated to the religious viewpoints of anyone, including Johnson.
“The district’s calendar is not Johnson’s personal speech,” he said, “it is government speech.”
Ussery emphasized that depending on the time and place, the district cannot prohibit Johnson from referring to the winter break as Christmas break. It would likely be a clear violation of Johnson’s First Amendment rights had the district attempted to censor Johnson’s social media posts or prevent her in some manner from continuing to use the words Christmas Break in her own communications. However, he wrote that he found no such evidence of district censorship.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Taking ‘Christmas’ out of school program title not a violation, Vale board decides
What’s in a name? Vale woman takes up crusade for Christmas
Malheur County DA caps Vale School District’s records fee in Christmas controversy
Vale parent issues report, perseveres in quest to keep Christmas in schools
News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
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