After receiving a letter from FFRF, Unified School District #436 in Caney Valley, Kan., will ensure that religious material is no longer printed in its yearbooks or newspapers.
Staff Attorney Andrew Seidel wrote a letter of complaint after a student forwarded a picture of the 2014-15 Caney Valley High School yearbook with a single large Christian cross on its cover. FFRF also complained about a section from the school’s newspaper quoting two students and a faculty member selecting their favorite bible verses and recommending Matthew 28:18-20, which is a command to convert “all people in the world” to Christianity.
“School publications, including yearbooks and school newspapers, must remain neutral toward religion,” wrote Seidel. The yearbook cross and newspaper section dedicated to bible verses both create “the appearance that the district prefers religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other religions.”
New superintendent Blake A. Vargas thanked FFRF for “bringing to light practices that could be considered a violation of the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause,” and assured FFRF that he would review current practices and ensure that the school would be neutral on religion in the future.
