Buff Elementary School in Madras did not hold a Christmas celebration, as a Jefferson County School Board member claimed last week.

At a school board meeting on Dec. 12, board member Lyle Rehwinkel applauded the school for celebrating Christmas rather than winter, or the holidays.

It was good to get back to a Christmas program and not a winter program like Ive been to in the past few years, Rehwinkel said at the meeting.

Celebrating a religious holiday, such as Christmas, would violate school district policy, according to Superintendent Guy Fisher.

But a program from the schools event shows a mix of nonreligious holiday songs and folk music from Africa and Spain. Titles included, Must be Santa, Frosty the Snowman, and African Noel. Two of the 12 songs included the word Christmas in the titles.

The celebration was held on Dec. 8 at 1:15 p.m. for parents of schoolchildren.

We played no religious songs, said Buff Elementary School Principal Marlys Alger. Its traditional to do this every year.