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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
A Republican school board member in Sumner County appears to be regretting his vote designating October 14 as “Charlie Kirk Day” and is pushing the board to revert calling the school holiday break “Christmas Break” back to “Winter Break”, claiming the specific naming of the Christian holiday is too exclusionary.
On Sept. 23, the Sumner County School Board unanimously passed a resolution designating Oct. 14, Kirk’s birthday, as “Charlie Kirk Day of Peaceful Discourse” to reaffirm the First Amendment values Charlie advocated for, honor “his contributions to civic education and public service,” and ask students to, “reflect on the unalienable rights given to each American in the Bill of Rights and how we all can work together to live out and celebrate our shared American values.”
But after backlash from some members of the public it seems school board member Wade Evans may be apologetic over his yes vote for the measure.
In a Facebook post from his official school board member page asking for feedback on the proposed 2026-27 school calendar options, Evans wrote the “feedback” he received was a, “great reminder that now more than ever that I represent all the families in District 4.”
Women’s rights activist Riley Gaines, who resides in Sumner County, addressed the post, appearing to critique Evans’ supposed affiliation with Republican values.
“My county in TN voted for October 14th to be recognized as Charlie Kirk Day by the county & school system. Here’s one of the ‘Republican’ school board members saying he regrets his vote for CK day. Oh, and also working to change ‘Christmas break’ to ‘Winter Break’,” she wrote.
The latter part of Gaines’ statement refers to the section of Evan’s post directly before his seemingly tacit remorse for the Kirk resolution where he announced he would be asking the board at its October study session to go back to using the term “Winter break” instead of “Christmas break” to be more inclusive of those who may not celebrate the holiday.
“On a personal note, after many conversations and research, I will be asking to change ‘Christmas Break’ back to ‘Winter Break’. The reality is that while most call it Christmas Break, we have other holidays and families to think about. By making this change last year, we did not serve all our families and students,” he justified.
While comments on the post largely focused on giving input on the schedule options, many did chime in with their thoughts about the name change.
“No to changing it to winter break. Christmas is a federally recognized holiday and there is zero reason to change it. We don’t need to be more inclusive. We have a history and a culture and there is nothing wrong with it,” one person wrote.
Another comment read, “When we have a break, we are celebrating as a largely Christian community, Christmas. This nation was founded by Christians, and the ‘one nation under God’ is the God of…Christ and Christmas. Why the constant need to erase Christianity I don’t know but I’m glad I’m not on the side that opposes God. YOU may call it what you will. I will always call it Christmas holidays or Christmas break.”
Someone in favor of the change said, “As someone who celebrates Christmas, I am not offended one bit by not calling it ‘Christmas break’. In fact, all the other breaks are named for the season…fall break, spring break, summer break… why not winter break?” And others were in “absolute support” for “inclusive language”.
During the October 14 study session, Evans did present his request, lamenting “hateful” social media comments, phone calls, text messages, and emails he has supposedly received and noting the change to “Christmas Break” was only made last year as the district has used the term “Winter Break” since 1994.
He denigrated some of those who contacted him in disagreement with his suggestion, claiming it was ironic to receive such messages on the day dedicated to civil discourse in honor of Charlie Kirk. But he neglected to mention his own seeming remorse over voting in favor of the Kirk resolution.
“When you decide to do something like this, when you decide to exclude kids, at the end of the day I do have a problem with that,” Evans said. He also maintained his desire to reverse the name change stems from pushback he got from constituents and a desire to, “represent everyone in my district.”
Fellow board member Meghan Breining, another Republican, also addressed the board on the topic “from the heart” and argued that since she knows that not even all Christians celebrate the holiday, using the word “Christmas” can be divisive and judgmental.
“When we use that word, it can make those families [who don’t celebrate] feel invisible or unseen in the very schools that their children attend,” she said. She also attempted to apply Biblical scripture about “not judging the people who are not in the faith” to make her point.
Two other members defended the language change, stating that since both the State of Tennessee and the U.S. Government officially recognize Christmas, it makes sense for the school districts to do the same on their calendars. They also reasoned that a person has every right to be offended, and that offense is a part of life, but personal distaste does not create the right to “offend the masses to appeal to the one percent.”
As no votes are conducted during the study sessions, the matter will likely be officially addressed at the next regularly scheduled school board meeting on Oct. 21 where the 11 members will decide whether to appease more politically correct-minded members of the board and community.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
RINO puke.
Thank-you Wade Evans. In a day and age when every Republican officeholder with a pulse is allegedly a “conservative”, and indeed, most recently a “MAGA conservative”, I think it’s great when a Wade Evans lets everyone know that he is no such thing. He doesn’t think like a conservative, doesn’t act like a conservative, and is temperamentally nothing like a conservative. Now armed with that knowledge the voters in Sumner County in Wade’s school board district will have the opportunity to choose again next spring.