PORT ST. LUCIE -- Principals are expected to analyze student test data, stay on the cutting edge of education topics and hire teachers they think can best deliver curriculum.

In recent years, fall marks a time when those same administrators also are expected to weigh whether upcoming holiday performances and decorations should include references to religion, feature cultural events like Kwanzaa or include secular concepts like Santa Claus.

Last November, a Windmill Point Elementary fifth-grade teacher led an informal discussion that ended with students saying Santa Claus is a myth and left one mother upset about the unplanned classroom slip.

Almost 11 months later, Windmill Point Principal Bernadette Floyd has axed an after-school play with "Christmas" in its title.

Floyd referred telephone inquiries to a district spokeswoman, who said the November incident caused Floyd to be "super sensitive" going into this year's holiday season.

"She knows the families of her school -- the parents and everyone -- and she was making a decision based on her knowledge," district spokeswoman Janice Karst said. "She felt she wanted to have a different selection."

Floyd dropped "A Penguin Christmas" from the school's program, and Karst says Floyd might have done it sooner had she been consulted on the content.

The music teacher picked the play in which penguins try to replace Santa's elves and reindeer on their busiest night of the year and had already cast students. But Floyd was concerned about offending parents further.

As holiday decorations begin flooding retail stores and music teachers begin planning pageants, decisions on handling religious holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah will continue being made at individual schools, St. Lucie County School Board Chairwoman Kathryn Hensley said.

"The site-based administrators need to make the call because they know their students," Hensley said. "We're becoming much more of a blended community and I think we need sensitivity to all cultures."

At Fairlawn Elementary, a Fort Pierce magnet school, Principal Patricia Heffelfinger says holidays have been a subject of changing debate during her almost three decades of education.

Each winter holiday season, the school keeps a Christmas tree in its front foyer with red, white and blue balls celebrating both the holiday and the school's mascot, the Patriots.

"We also put out a menorah and we put out Kwanzaa candles," Heffelfinger said. "I think we've just had more of an awareness of other nationalities and cultural groups. I do think we are helping bring about a greater awareness."