Christmas controversy. (Making the Difference).

Prior to Christmas 2001, students in a class at Northwest Elementary School in Leominster, Massachusetts, were assigned to bring books about their Christmas traditions and share the details with classmates.

Second-grader Laura Greska opted to report on The Story of Christmas by Sally Owen, which focuses on the birth of Jesus Christ, the centerpiece of the holiday for Christians. But while the school allowed other students to present books dealing with a broad variety of Christmas traditions, Laura's presentation was allegedly cut short by her teacher due to its "religious" content. According to Laura's parents, Robert and Jessie Greska, they were subsequently told that religious books were not acceptable for the class assignment.

In July 2002, the Virginia Beach, Virginia-based American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm specializing in constitutional law, filed suit on behalf of the Greskas in U.S. District Court. The suit claimed that the Leominster Public School District violated Laura's right to exercise her religious beliefs by not allowing her to complete her book report.

Before the case could be heard, however, a settlement was reached in May of this year between the Greskas and the school district. According to its terms, Laura "will be permitted to exercise her religious beliefs via speech (whether oral or written), if appropriate to an assignment, in all future school assignments" while attending any school within the district. In return, the ACLJ asked the district court to dismiss the lawsuit.

In a May 16th ACLJ press release announcing the agreement, the law firm's senior counsel, Vincent McCarthy, described the case as "an important reminder that students do not shed their constitutional rights to express their religious faith when they enter the school house door. We are encouraged that the school district has agreed to do what it should have done from the beginning - protect the free speech rights of our client...."