Now that the frenzy appears to have died down, parents who remain proud of their school and its staff are ready to fight back. At two separate meetings, numerous community members pledged to speak out and defend Stevens Creek and the district in place of officials who can't comment on the impending legal proceedings.

"We are concerned about media coverage. There have been a number of distortions, including the idea that we're not teaching fundamental documents," said district superintendent Bill Bragg at the first meeting, a gathering for concerned parents in Stevens Creek's Guided Learning Center on Dec. 13. "But our attorneys have reminded us that it serves no purpose to fight [the lawsuit] in the media."

After assuring parents that the district has provided extra security for the Stevens Creek campus—including additional patrols on the night that a taping of the Fox News Channel talk show Hannity & Colmes brought approximately 1,900 audience members to town—Bragg acknowledged that parents are frustrated by the district's mediated response. But he said that the district planned on using the legal processes in place. The district has until Jan. 14 to file their response in federal court.

That didn't stop some of the 75 parents attending from questioning several of the district's tactics, including keeping Williams in his classroom. "There is a code of conduct in place, but teachers can express themselves in legal ways," Bragg explained, adding that like all permanent teachers, Williams is on an open-ended contract that is not up for review.

Stevens Creek principal Patricia Vidmar, who is named in the suit along with Bragg and members of the school board, was present at the meeting and gratefully accepted a standing ovation from parents. "I'm lucky to have been here for a long time—I feel like I helped raise your children," she said. "Thank you to those of you who continue to send your kids to school. It's business as usual in the classroom."

Greg McNeil, parent of a second-grader and a kindergarten student, agreed. "There's a lot of angst and anxiety, but the teachers have done a wonderful job of keeping it from the kids," he said. He added that he came to the meeting not to learn more about the lawsuit, but to see more of the reaction from his fellow parents.

"It's a shame it got blown out of proportion. It could have been an interesting opportunity to teach, but they couldn't have foreseen this. The media thing is making it sour," he said.

Bragg said that the best the district could do was focus on its local community, especially because he said media outlets were picking and choosing which aspects of the story to publish. "It's fair to say that we have little control over what's being discussed in Texas, Massachusetts or Ireland for that matter," he said.

Bragg and the members of the school board weren't saying anything the next night at the regular board meeting. Members of the public were allowed to speak under the "delegations" portion of the agenda, and due to the restrictions of the Brown Act, the board and superintendent were not allowed to respond. But several speakers asked why the district has not implemented a more aggressive public relations campaign.

"We were renowned for our great education," said Bruce Powell, a longtime Cupertino resident. "This issue has literally metastasized and it's a disgrace for the district." Ralph Otte, a member of the Los Altos chapter of the American Legion, detailed his recent visit to Meyerholz Elementary, where he said some of the classrooms didn't have American flags. He also decried what he called the prohibition of the word Christmas from public schools.

But the several Stevens Creek parents present reminded board members and other members of the audience that not only are the founding documents in dispute taught at their school, but there is a Bible study group on campus and students do sing Christmas carols with religious overtones.

After the meeting, a group of parents gathered together to discuss a public relations campaign to be organized entirely by members of the community. These parents want to counteract the one-sided image they say the rest of the country now has about their school. Parent Richard Crouch referred to a comment Powell made in his address to the board, about how no more than 50 people in the audience at the Hannity & Colmes taping were on the district's side of the issue.

"I think no more than 50 people in the audience were parents at Stevens Creek," Crouch said in his comments to the board. "We all understand and respect your decision, but as parents, we feel a great frustration. We feel we have an obligation to speak out on this."