In April 2011, FFRF received a complaint regarding about two religious displays in Glendale Union High School classrooms from a Glendale, Ariz. resident. A history teacher had displayed a timeline of world history which started with Adam and Eve and read, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” In the same school, a picture of Jesus and the Ten Commandments hung on the wall of an art classroom, where the teacher kept a bible on his desk.
FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott wrote a letter of complaint to Superintendent Jennifer Johnson, reminding her that “Courts have continually held that school districts may not display religious messages or iconography on the walls of public schools.” Elliott added that these teachers’ displays were “inappropriate and a violation of the Establishment Clause. Students taking their classes should not have to view materials promoting Christian messages. There is no educational or academic component or motive for such displays; their presence is proselytizing a captive audience.”
After FFRF followed up on May 25, Superintendent Johnson responded, saying that the displays had been taken down. In her letter dated May 31, Johnson said she had directed the Glendale Union High School principal to “have a conversation with the two teachers involved and directing them to remove the questionable materials,” and that, to her knowledge, no further church-state violations were occurring in the high schools.
