Lunch menus displaying a "Merry Christmas" message have been thrown out and replaced in the Federal Way school district south of Seattle.

The December menus for the district's 23 elementary schools were recalled and reprinted with a "Happy Holidays" banner, the cost of which nearly came to $500.

A spokesman for the school district says printing "Merry Christmas" on the menus violates school district policies because "it has a religious connotation for some people."

The 11,500 calendar-style menus were never distributed and were subsequently recycled.