Report by Paula Antolini, March 24, 2023, 6:03PM EDT
The Easter Holiday is not even here yet and already there is controversy in Bethel over the word “Easter“. It seems that the Bethel Public Schools and Bethel Parks & Recreation Department have different views on the matter.
Recently this year we noticed a change from last year’s “Egg Hunt” poster, posted by the Parks & Recreation Department in 2022, who changed it back to “Easter Egg Hunt” in 2023. (As we recently posted here: “This Year the Word ‘Easter’ is No Longer Offensive in Bethel”.)
Late this afternoon, in the Bethel Public Schools (BPS) Newsletter, 3-24-23, the same flyer advertising the Bethel annual event was posted as “Egg Hunt” with the 2023 date, NOT in coordination with “Easter Egg Hunt” as originally posted this year (event title and poster) on the Bethel Parks and Recreation Facebook page. (Scroll to the bottom of the school page under “Community Events” to view the school poster HERE and view below.)
Does Bethel Public Schools view the word “Easter” as offensive?
Whose decision was it to NOT run the event poster the same as the Bethel Parks & Rec. printed it this year (including the word “Easter“)? Did Bethel Public Schools REMOVE the word “Easter” in 2023?
At the time of publication of this article, we were unable to get feedback from BPS Superintendent Christine Carver but we will keep you updated.
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In 2022, we asked Director Eileen Earle, “Why the change (to “Egg Hunt“)?” Earle stated, “We’re just trying to stay neutral, so we’re not trying to offend anyone religiously.“ She said they are, “just trying to do a nice egg hunt for the kids.“ Read “Bethel Drops ‘Easter’ from ‘Egg Hunt’” from 2022.
We checked back this year, 2023, with Director Earle, as to why they changed back to “Easter Egg Hunt” and she said, “We decided that, having the change, because it’s related to Easter and the Easter bunny. It’s not related to anything religious it’s just the Easter bunny.” Earle added, “We did some research and we related it to the Easter bunny with eggs. It’s not anything religious so we decided to put it back in.” Read our article dated 3-21-23, entitled, “This Year the Word ‘Easter’ is No Longer Offensive in Bethel”.
Now the Bethel Public Schools REMOVED the word “Easter” in direct opposition to what Parks & Rec. posted in 2023.
Sound confusing? Yes, we think so too.
To be continued…. we will update as more information is received.
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This year’s Parks & Recreation Poster 2023:
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Last Year’s Parks & Recreation Poster 2022:
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This year’s Bethel Public Schools posted “Egg Hunt” poster 2023, on school newsletters website (right):
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This year’s Bethel Public Schools posted “Egg Hunt” poster 2023:
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