School district in Elkhart promises to nix live Nativity

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A student and parents suing a school district in Elkhart over its annual holiday pageant are still seeking a court order preventing the school from reverting to old versions of the show that contain live Nativity scenes.

A U.S. District Court filing in South Bend by Concord Community Schools in early October said the superintendent and school board agreed to not include live Nativity scenes in the Christmas Spectacular going forward, The Elkhart Truth (http://bit.ly/2eXLo0O ) reported.

But the anonymous plaintiffs said in a court filing last week that school officials' promises to use mannequins instead of live actors to depict the Nativity aren't enough.

Last September U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio ruled that the revamped show, which used mannequins to depict the Nativity, did not violate the U.S. Constitution.

Still pending are rulings on whether the 2014 show and a scrapped 2015 program proposal using the live Nativity actors violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, which prohibits governmental entities or schools from endorsing religion or forcing people to take part in religious activities.

Also at issue is nominal damages of $10 the student and parents seek coming as a result to their exposure to the 2014 installment of the Christmas show.

The court filing is the last one expected from the plaintiffs before DeGuilio decides on the case's final points.

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com