"Student fights to wear Wiccan necklace"

(AP, September 04, 2002)

DALLAS - A Wiccan necklace banned by some North Texas school administrators was hidden under a student's blouse Wednesday, allowing her to return to classes.

But the parents of 15-year-old Waxahachie High School freshman Rebecca Moreno, suspended for wearing the pentacle jewelry, were scheduled to meet with educators today to appeal the suspension.

Moreno was suspended by school officials when the school year began two weeks ago. School officials let her come back Wednesday only after she agreed to hide the pentacle, a five-pointed star inside a circle.

The school dress code prohibits display of the pentacle, swastika and drug-oriented jewelry. School officials said they banned the pentacle several years ago because its design became associated with devil worship.

But the Moreno family believes their daughter should be able to wear the pentacle in full view because its part of her religion, so they are appealing the ruling.

Laura Moreno, Rebecca's mother, said the family's initial decision to hide the pentacle was to protect their daughter.

"Education is very important to our family," Laura Moreno told The Dallas Morning News in its Thursday editions. "We are making this concession to limit the amount of harm to her."

The Morenos say they are Wiccans, practitioners of a pagan religion that incorporates witchcraft, multiple gods and goddesses and nature worship.

Wiccans say that any rule against wearing the pentacle, likened by Wiccans to the Christian cross or the Star of David, is a violation of religious freedom.

High school Principal Phil Trice said the suspension had nothing to do with religion, but was based on the quarter-sized pentacle's potential for disruption at the Waxahachie campus, 35 miles southwest of Dallas.

The Morenos will attend Thursday's hearing with their attorney, Michael Linz, who was brought into the case by the American Civil Liberties Union. Linz said he will ask the school to expunge the suspensions, allow Moreno to wear the pentacle in full view and change the district's dress code to accommodate a student's religion.

Laura Moreno said her daughter attended Midlothian Independent School District last year, and school officials there never complained when she wore the pentacle.