Mike and Nicole’s OPP: Religion in Schools

Dear Mike and Nicole,

My son is 4 years old and in preschool in Boise. His father and I are not married anymore and we have mutually decided on this preschool because it is equal distance and convenient for both of us. He's been going to this school for about three months and we have been happy with it until recently.

My son's teacher has a reward system in her classroom which is a treasure chest filled with little trinkets and candies or snacks. He came home last week with one of his "treasures" and I was shocked and appalled, to say the least. It was a package of candy that said "Jesus Seeds" and had a religious cross and scripture on it. (This school is in no way a Christian or religious school.) While I respect the way that other people may be raising their children and their beliefs, this is not something that I agree with.

My ex-husband doesn't think that it's a big deal and that I'm overreacting considering my son doesn't even know what it is and probably only cared about the candy, but I'm ready to pull him out of the school. This is absolutely not OK and there's a reason that religion in schools is not allowed. A teacher forcing religion on students is abuse of power.

What else can I do to make sure this doesn't happen again? Should I be contacting the preschool management or government officials?