Flushing the 1st amendment down the toilet at Chelan High School Original Article Friday, November 11, 2005 Last updated 3:31 p.m. PT Chelan School District backs off rosary bead ban THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHELAN, Wash. -- The Lake Chelan School District has rescinded a ban on rosary beads a week after school officials banned them as a symbol of potential gang involvement. About 75 students, parents and community members attended a school district meeting Wednesday night to discuss the ban, which the district had imposed more than a week earlier. At the time, the district said a Wenatchee police officer had warned school officials that rosary beads worn around the neck could be a symbol of gang activity, particularly among Latino students. Luis Fernandez, a junior at Chelan High School, was among the students asked to tuck his rosary beads under his shirt and refused. "I thought that was a dumb reason. They were labeling me as a gangster because I wear a rosary," he said. The district dropped the ban Monday, as well as bans on other symbols that had been placed on a new list of gang-affiliated clothing, including the owl, the numbers 13, 14 and 18 and several sports jerseys of famous players. "We need to do a better job of communicating when we make changes," said Tim Berndt, principal at Chelan High School. "I didn't go through all the proper steps of notification." Hugo Sanchez, a senior, said he researched the rosary as a gang symbol on the Internet and found the same issue had already been decided in Texas, where a school lost a lawsuit for suppressing religious freedom after banning the rosary. "It's really a big issue for me," said Ali Juarez, a junior. "It's part of my religion. I feel it was never an issue before. It never disturbed class." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_BRF_Rosary_Ban.html Friday, November 11, 2005 Last updated 7:41 p.m. PT Wash. school rescinds ban on rosary beads THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CHELAN, Wash. -- A high school has rescinded a rule that prohibited students from wearing rosary beads a week after administrators prohibited them as symbols of potential gang involvement. Officials at Chelan High School said they acted too hastily when they imposed the ban after a training session with a police officer, who warned rosary beads worn around the neck can be a sign of gang activity, particularly among Latinos. But several students challenged the new dress code, sparking debate among school officials, parents and members of the clergy. "We need to do a better job of communicating when we make changes," Principal Tim Berndt said. "I didn't go through all the proper steps of notification." The district dropped the rosary rule Monday, as well as bans on other symbols, including an owl, the numbers 13, 14 and 18, and several sports jerseys of famous players.