A dressing down over dress-up day

An elementary school event in which students were encouraged to dress as members of the opposite sex drew the ire of a Christian radio group, whose broadcast prompted outraged calls to the district office.

Students at Pineview Elementary School in Reedsburg were encouraged on Friday to dress either as senior citizens or as members of the opposite gender as part of a school tradition called Wacky Week.

The dress-up day was not an attempt to promote cross-dressing, homosexuality or alternative gender roles, district administrator Tom Benson said. “Our purpose was . . . to have a Wacky Week, mixing in a bit of silliness with our reading, writing and arithmetic. I can assure you we will not be having this day [again].”