No more Spring Break

Kern County school board votes for return to traditional vacation names

The Kern County High School board of trustees has decided to abolish “Winter Recess” and “Spring Break” and replace them with “Christmas Recess” and “Easter Recess.”

By a 4-1 vote, the trustees made the name change at their meeting on Dec. 21 for the 37,000-student school district. “Everybody around here is ecstatic about it,” says Chad Vegas, the board member who was behind the change. “In Bakersfield, this is not a controversial issue. The heat has all been from the media, from the liberal press in San Francisco and Los Angeles.”

Vegas, a pastor at Sovereign Grace Church in Bakersfield, was first elected to the board two years ago, receiving more than 63,000 votes – the highest vote total of any candidate in the history of Kern High School board of trustee elections. “It was a very controversial race,” he said. “My two opponents branded me ‘Christian right wing,' and spent around $300,000 to defeat me. We spent $29,000 – and won.”

In the November 2006 election, three new board members were elected, including a Vegas ally. “Finally, I had somebody to second my motions,” said Vegas. He and the three new board members formed the majority for the 4-1 vote to rename the school holidays. The lone dissenter was the sole trustee left from the old board.

The decision reverses a change made in 1988, when the secular names replaced the traditional ones. “We’re just trying to uphold American cultural and religious history,” said Vegas. “Americans for Separation of Church and State, the ACLU, some inter-religious groups have threatened a lawsuit, but we have not seen one. They know they don’t have a winnable case.”

The board on which Vegas serves sets policy for 26 high schools in Kern County. -- from http://www.calcatholic.com/