March 15, 2012
FoxNews.com:
A Massachusetts school principal is renaming "St. Patrick's Day" with "O'Green Day" in an effort to be "inclusive and diverse," while some parents are blasting the decision as "stupid" and illogical.
Lisa Curtin, principal of the Soule Road School in Wilbraham, Mass., decided to change the name to ease discomfort that some students might have in celebrating St. Patrick's Day or Valentine's Day -- which last month was renamed to "Caring and Kindness Day," according to parents with children in the school.
The St. Patrick's Day holiday falls on a Saturday this year, but students at the elementary school will still be encouraged to wear green during class on Friday and eat green vegetables in the cafeteria.
"I think it's ridiculous," said Dina LaMotte, whose daughter is a fifth-grader at the school. "What's next, birthdays?"
"It should be either in or out," added Wilbraham resident Theresa Finnegan. "They're still celebrating it by calling it a different name, which makes no sense to me. It's totally illogical.
"Those two holidays are holidays that have become over the years very secular in nature," she said.
Curtin referred all media inquiries to Wilbraham Schools Superintendent Martin O'Shea, who was not immediately available for comment Thursday.
LaMotte and others say Curtin's heart is in the right place, but claim her ruling is "political correctness gone too far."
"It's really stupid," said Janet Carlyle, whose three children attended the school.
"Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day," Carlyle told FoxNews.com. "It's not a holiday that's generally associated with a religion."
What's worse, Carlyle called the renaming of the holiday insulting and "unfair" to Irish Catholic students for whom the holiday might have special meaning.
"I would have been really annoyed if my kids were still in the school," added Carlyle, who is not Catholic but said she celebrates the holiday "like most normal people do" by eating green mash potatoes.
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