Several Westfield High School students who handed out candy canes with religious note to their classmates the week before Christmas are bracing for possible suspension from school after they return from winter break tomorrow.
The students, who were forbidden by school administrators to distribute the candy and messages, are accusing school officials of violating their rights to free speech and expression.
''No matter what they do, we're not backing down,'' Stephen Grabowski, 16, said yesterday. ''We really believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we're prepared to fight. They picked the wrong people to step on.''
But school administrators have said the issue is not religion. They said they are adhering to a policy that bars students from passing out non-school-related literature on campus.
''We do not allow students to distribute non-school curriculum or activity-related literature of any kind directly to other students on school grounds,'' Superintendent Thomas McDowell wrote on Dec. 18 to Erik Stanley, an attorney for the Liberty Counsel, a religious civil liberties organization. Stanley had written to McDowell on the students' behalf. ''We do not single out students based upon the content of their message, in this or any other instance,'' McDowell wrote.
Grabowski, who describes himself as a born-again Christian and co-leader of the school's Bible Club, said the group has distributed the candy canes in the past. When they sought permission to hand out the candy canes this year, however, their request was denied. The students were told that violating the school's policy could get them suspended, he said.
''We just really need to get the message out to everyone that Jesus Christ is Lord. We don't want the meaning of Christmas to get lost in all the commercialism and such,'' Grabowski said. ''Free speech is free speech. It shouldn't be restricted to wherever you are.''
Seven students this year handed out about 450 candy canes between classes and during lunch, Grabowski said.
Taped to each was a piece of paper that included a religious explanation for the candy cane's shape and colors. The J shape stands for ''Jesus,'' or, when inverted, symbolizes a shepherd's staff, Grabowski said. The white is for Jesus's purity, and the red is for the blood he shed, Grabowski said. The notes also included some Bible verses and a prayer.
McDowell said he learned about the distribution of the candy canes through an article in the local paper, but neither he nor the principal had spoken to the students because of the holiday break.
If an investigation determines students did pass out the candy canes, McDowell said, the students would be disciplined accordingly.
''We have progressive discipline, and these are not bad kids,'' McDowell said. ''We will do whatever the handbook says.'' McDowell said he was told the issue of disciplining students for passing out non-curriculum related material had not come up in 25 years.
Stanley, the Liberty Counsel attorney, said the students have a right to express their religious views at school. He said he is waiting to see whether they want to take legal action against the school.
''It doesn't make any sense to me why one of these students could tell another student the story of the candy cane but couldn't hand something to them that says the same thing,'' he said.
The controversy over the candy canes may have helped the students' mission, said Sharon Sitler, 17, a senior who says she stands to lose her membership in the National Honor Society if she's suspended from school. She described previous years when her classmates took the candy canes, ripped off the paper messages, and tossed them to the floor.
''This year, almost every single person we gave them to read them,'' Sitler said. ''Not because they were forced to, but because they wanted to see what was so horrible that we'd get suspended.''