Julie Edge says she will not name the school that allegedly banned Christmas carols for fear of abuse and retaliation toward teachers, parents or pupils.
Ms Edge has called for a published policy on school governance and festive traditions before the upcoming debate on the Education (Amendment) Bill.
The Onchan MHK has raised the issue of how individual schools handle cultural and festive celebrations, after it was announced in Keys that the DESC currently has no overarching policy, treating such matters as operational decisions for each school.
She argues this “piecemeal, school-by-school interpretation” leads directly to the inconsistency reported to her by separate families.
“Leaving such sensitive decisions to piecemeal, school-by-school interpretation leads to the very inconsistency that two separate families raised with me on this subject,” she said.
Transparency
The MHK said that while Education Minister Daphne Caine told keys this week “not one” school had reported restrictions on festive traditions, she later confirmed not all schools had responded at that time.
Ms Edge says she has since been informed informally that “all responses are now in and all negative”, but she is now seeking this confirmation in writing for public transparency.
“We can embrace diversity, but parents need to know exactly where the standards sit respecting our island’s heritage and traditions with published transparent policy applied fairly,” she added.