FFRF’s legal team was successful in getting four Alabama school districts to end state/church violations recently.
In the Jefferson County School District, a concerned parent reported that Gideons were allowed inside McAdory Elementary School to hand out bibles to students. The complainant’s child was given a bible as the children left P.E. class by men who had set up a table in the hallway. Another parent reported that Grantswood Community School had put up a religious display in one of its classrooms. The display read, “He is the reason,” an obvious reference to Jesus given the context of a holiday display. This religious message was also posted on the school’s Facebook page.
FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote to the district’s attorney, asking the district to cease allowing outside adults into its schools to distribute bibles to students and to remove the religious display from its property and social media page. The Jefferson County Schools’ attorney informed FFRF in a letter of response that both of these requests have been met by the district.