FFRF contacted Wayne City Community Unit School District #100 in October to object to a posting on Wayne City High School’s Facebook account about a “Bring Your Bible to School” day. The announcement gave a location (school library), time and day to meet and “pray over the day.”
FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne wrote to Superintendent Jeff Mitchell and pointed out that such an announcement violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
The Wayne City school district has promised to prevent any future misuse of its social media.
Cross removed (no official response; complainant emailed STG on December 6, 2016 to let him know that the cross was removed)
In mid-December, FFRF was able to persuade the city of Longview, Texas, to remove a cross from a Texas fire station’s lawn in front of the station’s sign. After FFRF heard from an area resident, Grover wrote to Longview Fire Chief J.P. Steelman about the violation. City officials then told the fire department to remove the cross.
“A cross that caused a stir when it was erected a year ago as part of a Longview fire station’s Christmas display went up again this year — until city officials asked firefighters to remove it,” the Longview News-Journal reports.
“It’s our practice to follow what case law has shown throughout the United States,” city spokesperson Shawn Hara told the paper. “So that is to not display on our city-owned property displays that are specifically sectarian — things like the cross.”
