Although I had made a determination not to reply to Mr. Osgood's first letter to your paper, this despite his offensive and unfounded charges of anti-Christian discrimination and his repeated distortion of this issue, his second letter must not go unanswered. Mr. Osgood is adept at using a variety of rhetorical techniques to divert attention from the facts, and this, too, must not go unchallenged.

First, I would point out that, for decades our schools' practice of displaying a Menorah and a Christmas tree has met with approval from the community at large, with thousands of adults and children passing through our district's schools each and every day and not a hint of any response that would suggest this in any way has been perceived to be discriminatory. Nonetheless, when I convene a _.group of interested citizens and clergy this spring to discuss this issue further, as I have stated publicly I intend to do, I certainly will put this topic up for discussion by our priests, rabbis, ministers and residents. I hope Mr. Osgood will attend as well, both to share his perspective and listen to the thoughts of others. It strikes me that this may also be the type of issue that could well be mediated by an interfaith council, if one existed in our community. I expect there would be other areas in which such a resource could also be of great value.

At the heart of this entire matter is my statement to Mr. Osgood that I did not believe, after conferring with counsel, that it was appropriate to place a creche on school district property — the issue which is at the core of Mr. Osgood's personal vendetta and the foundations of his allegations of intolerance.

At its meeting on Nov. 9, the Board -of Education expressed their faith in my judgment to adjudicate issues surrounding a fair and balanced recognition of Christmas and Hanukkah in the schools. They did this at a meeting attended by Mr. Osgood and members of the clergy of all faiths, who were also invited to be present. I point this out because it was my judgment the board asked me to exercise, not Mr. Osgood's. For the record, as I _.informed Mr. Osgood in a letter I wrote to him directly on Jan. 4, 1995, "Our practice with regard to recognizing the holidays in the schools remains unchanged. There is no central administrative direction to principals other than to continue fostering mutual respect and tolerance for all faiths in a way that is consistent with secular nature of the public schools. I regret that you find our efforts unsatisfactory, but categorically deny that there is any religious discrimination in the Bedford Central School District."

The reason Mr. Kraemer in his published letter and I in my private letter to Mr. Osgood focused on his contention that a lighted Menorah was displayed in the Fox Lane High School is because Mr. Osgood incorrectly charged that the Menorah was lighted and used this as the central thesis of his original letter. In that correspondence he alleged that "we have experienced an increased focus on the Jewish faith" and that "the Menorah has now been brought into greater public prominence on our school property, using candles, lighted in sequence, as though it were a religious observance."

Of course, the facts prove other-wise. The candles were never lighted and there was no increased focus on the Jewish faith or any other variance from our past practice. This is not a "frog and a toenail" triviality as Mr. Osgood would suggest, but a factual repudiation of his central hypothesis.

Mr. Osgood points out that he was given a "minimum amount of time — I think was three work days to set up (his) schedule to attend the Board of Education meeting at which this topic was discussed." As a point of fact, the agenda for our Nov. 9 meeting, the occasion on which this matter was raised, was not set until Friday, Nov. 4, the same day on which I wrote to Mr. Osgood to alert him to this topic's appearance on the agenda, as a courtesy and because of his prior interest in the issue.

When I did not receive any acknowledgment from Mr. Osgood that he had received my letter, I phoned him personally, on Monday, Nov. 7 or Tuesday, Nov. 8 to follow up. Mr. Osgood informed me that he had just returned from an extended trip, had not yet opened all of his mail, and was effusive in his thanks for my courtesy in making him aware of this meeting. One would hardly infer any of this from the tone of Mr. Osgood's two letters.

Finally, I also hope that the irony of Mr. Osgood's call for tolerance and respect on the one hand while he simultaneously hurls unjustified accusations of prejudice on the•other is not lost on your newspaper's readers.

Bruce L. Dennis
Superintendent,
Bedford Central School District