A substitute teacher at Montello Elementary in Maine’s second-largest city is under fire after telling a room of third-graders that Santa Claus is “make-believe,” a moment that left many children in tears and set off a wave of anger among Lewiston parents.
According to parents, the substitute “revealed to the class of 9-year-olds that Santa is not real” and even “invoked the wisdom of Siri,” which the teacher used to confirm to the students that Santa does not exist. One child reported that “most of the class was blubbering by the time the bell rang.”
Parents told the Sun Journal their children came home devastated, with one mother saying she had to explain to her daughter “that sometimes adults are Grinches and like to ruin the magic for children.”
Another parent said the family was now working to restore the holiday spirit at home, noting, “We are doing the Elf on the Shelf.”
The controversy quickly reached the Lewiston School Department. In an email to families, Montello Principal Tiffany Sax rebuked the substitute’s behavior, saying, “Telling children Santa isn’t real is not a practice here.” She added that when sensitive questions arise, “staff must prompt students to talk with their grown-up.”
Lewiston Superintendent Jake Langlais was even more direct, calling the substitute’s conduct “completely unacceptable.”
Within the school community, educators expressed disbelief at how the situation was handled. One teacher questioned why the substitute chose to take it upon herself to break news traditionally left to parents, asking, “What makes this person qualified to bypass the parents and ruin time-honored traditions for 20-plus children?”
The district has not announced what disciplinary action, if any, the substitute will face.
For many families, the damage has already been done. What should have been a season of anticipation and excitement turned into a difficult conversation for dozens of Lewiston parents, all because of one substitute’s decision to speak for Santa.
