Representative Patricia Morgan (R-District 26 Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick) has announced legislation regarding how schools can recognize and celebrate the winter holidays.

The bill will allow teachers across the state to educate students about the history of traditional winter celebrations and offer greetings regarding the celebrations including “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah” and “happy holidays” without having to “risk censure for teaching about those holiday traditions.”

Though the dubbing of the bill as the “Merry Christmas Legislation” (a name which Morgan told the Beacon is “as good a name as any”) implies that it’s Christmas-centric, Morgan said in a statement that “the goal here is to give everyone the freedom they deserve to say ‘Merry Christmas’ but not to encourage adherence to any particular religious belief.”

The bill will also allow school districts to display scenes or symbols associated with traditional winter celebrations on school property, including images like a Christmas tree, nativity scene or a menorah.

“I thought that it’s probably time to put some firm ground under the feet of school personnel so they can feel comfortable,” Morgan said in a phone call on Wednesday.

Morgan’s legislation is based on a similar Texas state law that “guarantees the freedom of the state’s children, teachers, parents and school administrators to acknowledge Christmas on school grounds without fear of censorship, prosecution or litigation.” She also cites a 2011 incident in which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) “swooped in” and filed a suit against Cranston High School West for a prayer banner that hung in the school’s auditorium – it isn’t illegal to say Merry Christmas or to offer a holiday greeting, but it wasn’t illegal for the school to have the banner up either, Morgan said.

The ACLU weighed in this time as well, calling the issue the bill seeks to address “made up.”

“The so-called War on Christmas that this bill seeks to address is as fanciful as Santa Claus, Rudolph and Festivus,” read a statement sent by Steven Brown from the ACLU of Rhode Island. “While we strongly support freedom for all religions, large and small, in the coming months we look forward to addressing real, not made-up, attacks on religious liberty, such as the President-elect's truly un-American proposal for a Muslim registration database."

Morgan insists that the bill is about culture over religion.

“It’s not about teachers teaching religion, but it is about them feeling comfortable to discuss traditional cultures of America without fear,” she said.

Morgan plans to submit her bill in January. Additional sponsors include Rep. Anthony Giarrusso (R-District 30 East Greenwich, West Greenwich), Rep. Sherry Roberts (R-District 29 Coventry, West Greenwich), Rep. Justin Price (R-District 39 Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond), and Rep. Robert A. Nardolillo III. (R-District 28 Coventry).