A group that advocates for the separation of church and state is threatening to sue the Bartow County School System over its decision to allow an evangelical group to distribute Bibles at one of its schools.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has written a letter to Bartow Schools Superintendent Dr. John Harper, threatening to file a lawsuit if the district does not refrain from its practice of allowing Gideons International to distribute Bibles in its schools.
The organization’s letter — written by staff attorney Andrew L. Seidel — came on the heels of a report of a Cartersville mother, who said her son last week brought a Bible home from Cloverleaf Elementary School.
The letter can be read below or by clicking here.
Parent Jessica Greene told 11 Alive she did not feel like it was the school’s place to distribute the Bibles.
According to the organization’s letter, teachers around 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4 announced Gideons representatives would be distributing Bibles and proceeded to sort out the students who wanted the book and those who did not.
“In our complainants class, only one child (not our complainant’s) refused to take a Bible,” the organization writes. “She, as one of the ‘others,’ was teased and ostracized and forced to defend herself by saying the she ‘believed in God, but it is in a different way.’ The teacher then walked the students to the library, and, leading by example, took a Bible from the adult male that set up shop in the public elementary school library.”
Friday’s letter is the second time the organization has written the school system.
In the second sentence of the letter dated Dec. 12, Freedom From Religious Foundation notes Dr. Harper on Oct. 19, 2012, wrote in his response to their concerns that “any future practice will be reviewed carefully” and that “no principal, teacher or any other school official will encourage a student in Bartow County School System to accept a Gideon Bible in the future.”
The organization goes on to ask Dr. Harper to inform district staff that the distribution of Bibles in public schools is illegal and that the system is “impermissibly endorsing the religious messages contained in the Bible” by allowing the distribution of material from Gideons representatives or any other religious organization.
“Teachers who divided up their classes ought to be reprimanded, as should the principal of Cloverleaf,” the letter concludes. “Please let us know if you were even aware of this distribution and inform us in writing at your earliest convenience of the steps you are taking to end this repeated violation. If this happens again in Bartow County Schools, FFRF will not write another letter but instead file a lawsuit.”
Cheree Dye, public relations specialist with the Bartow County School System, said the Bibles were supplied by the Gideons, and were placed on a table in the media center at the school.
Fifth-grade students were allowed to voluntarily take them during the time they transition from their core subjects to their connections classes.
“No one engaged the students in conversation while picking up the Bible,” she added. “They simply took it from the table and proceeded to class.”
The Gideons once a year leave Bibles at each of the Bartow County elementary schools for fifth-graders who choose to take one. Dye added the event is not recurring, and the Bibles are only made available to students once a year.
“No one employed by Bartow County Schools encouraged the students to take a copy and the process is completely voluntary,” she said.
Photo credit: morgueFile
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