‘Satanic’ School Head, Pictured With A 666 Sign, Gets To Keep Her Job

A WOMAN who created a petition that demanded the removal of an Ontario school principal who posted a picture of a 666 sign on social media has been left with egg all over her face.

Debbi Lynn and “another” said in their petition that the head Eden High School in St Catharines, Sharon Burns, inset above, needed to be “transferred immediately”:

As concerned parents with impressionable children at Eden High School … we are deeply disturbed that the principal assigned to the school blatantly showed Satanic symbols and her allegiance to Satanic practices on her public social media platforms where all the students can see them.

Their petition, which got 553 signatures, was shut down after a counter-petition garnered more than 23,400 signatures – and Burns got to keep her job.

The National Post reports that Lynn’s campaign to oust the “metalhead” principal, who is a an ardent fan of the legendary British band Iron Maiden, failed miserably.

For the record, the band’s drummer, Nicko McBrain, above, has led “a Christ-centred life” for more than 20 years.

When we first posted this story, Freethinker reader Angela_K commented:

These loopy Christians obviously don’t know that Iron Maiden’s drummer Nicko McBrain is a ‘born again Christian’ and a very boring one at that. Back in 2000 I sat next to him on a flight from Heathrow to Miami, he was going home to Boca Raton and I was going to a scientific conference in the same town.

He started blathering about Jesus and the Bible and after half an hour of me pointing out the absurdities of it all he gave me a signed photograph of the band and went downstairs to sit with a football team that was there. Strange man.

Said St Catharines city councillor Karrie Porter:

I’m surprised it blew up in the way it did. It is funny, silly and frustrating all at the same time.

The National Post said that it didn’t take long for the dispute to travel from the Niagara region across social media, talk radio, newspapers and beyond, from New York to Kuala Lumpur, and shared by politicians and rock bands.

Burns declined an interview, forwarding a request from National Post to the school board’s spokeswoman – Kim Sweeney, chief communications officer for the District School Board of Niagara – who called the international attention:

A unique experience. As you can imagine, Principal Burns, like all of us, is quite surprised by how her Instagram post led to two petitions and grew to be a topic of interest around the world.

We know Ms. Burns as a passionate and dedicated educator who is happiest when she can focus on and connect with her students.

After the complaints were aired, the board spoke with Burns and the “concerned parents” who published them, and the issue is over as far as the board is concerned, Sweeney said. No disciplinary action or policy changes were needed.

Our belief is that taste in music is subjective and we support that both students and staff enjoy a wide variety of genres.

Eden’s root are in the Christian movement. Started as a Bible school by the Mennonite Brethren in the 1930s, it then became a private Christian school.

In 1988, it became a public school but retained the wearing of school uniforms. It still hosts privately funded after-school Christian activities