FFRF cuts off bible distribution in Tennessee classroom (May 29, 2012)

Tullahoma City Schools (Tullahoma, Tenn.) will now prohibit distribution of bibles in its classrooms, after receiving a letter of complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

Fifth graders at East Lincoln Elementary School were told by their teachers to come up and take a bible in their classrooms. FFRF Staff Attorney Stephanie Schmitt warned Superintendent Dan Lawson in a May 21 letter that “it is unconstitutional for public school districts to allow the distribution of bibles during the school day. "Courts uniformly have held the distribution of bibles to students at public schools is prohibited.”

In a May 29 letter of response, Lawson wrote that he would advise principals to prohibit such distribution in the future, assuring FFRF that “we fully adhere to a belief that we are responsible to be neutral in matters of religion.”