Hanukkah? Check.

Human Rights Day? Check.

Winter break? Check.

Eid al-Adha? Check.

Kwanzaa? Check.

Anything else big going on in December that the Spokane School District thinks should be noted in its parent/student newsletter?

Oh, yeah!

Hanukkah, Human Rights Day, winter break, the Islamic holy day Eid al-Adha, first day of winter and Kwanzaa all made the list, but Spokane Public Schools snubbed Christmas.

Yuletide was left off a list of “important dates” in a December newsletter sent to elementary school students’ families, drawing complaints from some parents that in an age of political correctness, Christians are being overlooked in favor of other cultures and beliefs.

As the response started coming in, the district’s community relations department began damage control, sending out e-mails to school staff accepting responsibility for the “Bulletin Board” newsletter blunder and calling it “an honest, unfortunate mistake.” Christmas had been added to the “important dates” section of the online version of the school district’s newsletter by Thursday afternoon.

(Hat tip: Huckleberries Online and Orbusmax)