Fifth-graders didn’t put on A Christmas Carol this year at Centerville Elementary in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Why ditch a decades-long tradition?
Parents told WHTM that someone had complained about Tiny Tim’s big line: “God bless us, every one.”
Not true, wrote Principal Tom Kramer on the school’s website. “Producing and performing a play is not part of the written curriculum for fifth grade,” and “preparations had evolved to take 15 to 20 hours of instructional (educational) time to produce this play,” he wrote.
Fifth-grade teachers feared Centerville students might not be as prepared for sixth grade as children at other schools, according to the principal.
“In addition to focusing on high quality instruction,” Kramer concluded “our decision is rooted in the desire to be respectful of the many cultural and religious backgrounds represented by the students attending Centerville Elementary.”
So, they can’t find a way to make performing a classic story an educational experience. “Bah,” as Scrooge might put it. “Humbug.”