School’s Bible distribution sparks debate in Findlay

An ACLU attorney said ‘the school crossed the line’ when it gave Bibles to pupils.

FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union has told a school district it will take legal action if administrators don’t stop a group from handing out Bibles to pupils during class time.

Fifth-grade pupils at the city’s five elementary schools in March were allowed to leave class and escorted to sidewalks along the schools where they were given a Gideon Bible.

“The school crossed the line,” said Carrie Davis, an ACLU attorney.

The district’s school board is now reviewing its policies on the distribution of materials from community groups, said Findlay Superintendent Dean Wittwer.

The Bible handout has been going on for years, he said.

Gideons International is a group of Christian men who give out Bibles to students, prisoners, soldiers and others. It says it has distributed 1.3 billion Scriptures worldwide since 1908.

Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio, said that pupils and parents who want information about a particular religion should do it outside of school time.

“The school cannot be involved in sacrificing classroom time to help them hand out the Bibles,” she said.

Chris Brooks, principal of Bigelow Hill Elementary School in Findlay, said the Gideons have distributed a palm-sized booklet that contains the New Testament, Proverbs, and Psalms.

“You’ve got to look at the context of the community,” Brooks said. “This is a Christian community. I’m not saying everybody is, but that’s where Findlay is.”

Pupils at the school are told it is up to them whether they want a Bible. He said he has received one complaint over the years from the mother of a Muslim pupil.

“That’s about the only one I remember,” he said.

Courts have said schools can’t do things like this during the school day, Davis said.

“They say it’s the parents’ right to control their children’s religious upbringing, not the schools,” she said.