A Seattle-area school district recalled its December lunch menus for 23 elementary schools because they were printed with the greeting "Merry Christmas."

The Federal Way School District recycled 11,500 copies of the calendar-style menu and reprinted it with the greeting "Happy Holidays," The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., reported.

A spokeswoman for the district explained a new employee in the nutrition services department added the Christmas greeting by mistake.

Using "Merry Christmas" went against district practices because "it has a religious connotation for some people," said Diane Turner.

The "Merry Christmas" menus, which were not distributed, were replaced last month at a cost of $494, Turner told the Tacoma paper.

"Our objective is to provide information to the diversity of the people that we have in our district," she said. "We try to respect each individual's point of view."

As WND reported, a new red and green bracelet urging "just say Merry Christmas" is offering people the chance to rebel against policies that bar the phrase in public.

Last month, the home-improvement retailer Lowe's dropped references to "Holiday Trees" in favor of "Christmas Trees" one day after a WND story brought national exposure

And after a series of reports by WND, Wal-Mart officials satisfied demands by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which had called for a national boycott after accusing the chain of discriminating against Christmas while promoting other seasonal holidays by name, such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

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Dreaming of a White House 'Christmas'

'Merry Christmas' boycott targets Sears

Lowe's listens: 'Christmas trees'

'Christmas' trees vs. 'Holiday' trees

Target petition passes quarter million

Target boycott urged for Thanksgiving weekend

Wal-Mart boycott ends with apology

Wal-Mart worker 'history' after 'origin' of Christmas

Wal-Mart faces boycott for 'banning' Christmas

Target extends ban on Salvation Army

Clergy extend Target boycott

Homosexuals behind Target action?

Church leaders threatens Target boycott

Christmas in America becomes battleground