North Carolina —
FFRF stood up for a nonreligious student in the Montgomery County Schools system in North Carolina after a bible distribution left them feeling excluded, resulting in the district being advised not to allow similar events to take place in the future.
A local parent reported that last December, Star Elementary School allowed an outside adult to distribute bibles to students on school property during the school day. Reportedly, the adult was allowed to approach students to distribute bibles. When the parent wrote to FFRF regarding the distribution, they expressed their discomfort by the event, saying, “it forced my child into an environment where they felt like an ‘outsider’ for not participating in religious-leaning instruction.”
“When a public school allows the distribution of bibles to students on school property during the school day, it entangles itself with religion, and specifically Christianity,” FFRF Patrick O’Reilley Legal Fellow Charlotte R. Gude wrote. “Distributing bibles needlessly marginalizes students, such as our complainant’s child, who are nonreligious, as well as those who belong to minority faiths.”
After receiving FFRF’s letter, the district contacted legal representative Patricia Robinson to ensure full compliance with the Constitution. Robinson confirmed that the district investigated the situation, stating that, while the bibles were available for students to pick up and were indicated not to be district affiliated, the event “was not consistent with board policy regarding the distribution of non-school materials.” Robinson additionally provided legal training to school administrators regarding the First Amendment and compliance with board policy regarding distribution of non-school materials.
