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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993                   TAG: 9310140221
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SPOTSYLVANIA                                LENGTH: Short

CONTROVERSY BREWING IN SPOTSYLVANIA

A controversy is brewing over witches, goblins and other traditional symbols of Halloween in Spotsylvania County schools, where administrators have told teachers to use discretion when decorating classrooms.

Halloween symbolism may frighten some children, especially the very young, school Superintendent Alan Farley said Wednesday.

Farley said the symbols, many of which have roots in the occult, may not be appropriate for some children. But he denied that Spotsylvania is trying to avoid offending Christian beliefs by limiting Halloween symbolism.

"I don't think any of this has anything to do with any of that," he said.

Some religious groups have criticized Halloween as a pagan holiday with satanic influences. Nationally, some school districts have also limited Halloween symbolism, but Spotsylvania is apparently the first to do so in Virginia, said Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, the state's largest teacher union.

The debate parallels the flap in Montgomery County over renaming Christmas break to winter break, Jones said.

In a memo to teachers last week, Bonnie Westcott, director of elementary education, discouraged traditional Halloween symbolism in classrooms.

After the memo appeared, Westcott said school officials preferred that Halloween celebrations have a fall harvest theme.

"We just want to see common sense and good judgment," Farley said.

by CNB