PETITION SUPPORTS SECULAR NAMES FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993                   TAG: 9302120412
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
PETITION SUPPORTS SECULAR NAMES FOR SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
A petition signed by about 400 Montgomery County residents in today's newspaper supports the county School Board's policy of using secular rather than Christian names for school holidays.
The petition appears in an advertisement on Page 5 of today's Current.
The petition and advertisement are sponsored by a new group calling itself Coalition for Community, which was formed after the controversy over the school holiday names developed in December.
The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that month supporting the use of "Christmas" and "Easter" to identify school holidays after 300 people came to a board meeting to protest the School Board's long-standing use of the terms "winter" and "spring" break.
The board's decision precipitated the resignation of School Board Chairman Daniel Schneck and a continuing public debate over the holiday names. The School Board is scheduled to decide the issue in April.
The advertisement says that "the undersigned residents wish to affirm their commitment to the richness of life and culture in Montgomery County."
It continues: "We call on all our public officials to recognize and consider the diversity of our people as they make policies and decisions that affect all our lives."
One of the organizers of the group, former county Supervisor Ann Hess, said it coalesced "kind of spontaneously" in response to the winter-spring break issue.
"People, in conversation . . . wanted to provide an opportunity to recognize the complexity of the issue and how it reflects on this incredibly diverse community."
The coalition, which has met three times, is not a one-issue group, Hess said. Its mission is to support respect for ethnic, religious and cultural diversity in the county and to work toward solutions for divisive issues.
The group's organizing committee consists of Hess; Julia Smith; Joseph Slawny, a Tech professor; the Rev. Catherine Snyder, a Presbyterian minister; and Nancy Alexander of the Presbyterian campus ministry at Virginia Tech. Other committees also have been formed.
Members of the coalition come from all over Montgomery County - Pilot, Riner, Belview - according to Alexander.
Those in the coalition have some of the same concerns as those who wanted the school system to return to Christian holiday names, such as a concern about violence and disrespect in the schools. And they support good education, Alexander said. "We feel there is a need for the community to pull together," she said.
The group decided to run an ad in today's paper because members thought the visiting finalists for the county superintendent of schools post should be aware of the coalition's position, Alexander said.
Coalition membership is open to anyone, she said.
Those supporting Christian names for school holidays also have collected hundreds of names on petitions that they have presented to county officials.
One group of supporters of Christian holiday names has more than 2,000 names on a petition seeking a referendum this fall on an elected school board for the county.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB