Can a public school offer Bible courses during the school day? That’s the issue before a federal district court in West Virginia. 

Mercer County, West Virginia came under fire from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in January. FFRF complained that Mercer County offered Bible classes in many of its public schools. Classes are optional for the district’s elementary, intermediate and middle school students. Called Bible in the Schools, the classes have existed in Mercer County in some form since the 1930s, The Washington Post reported. Most children in the district opt to attend the classes. Classes last 30 minutes for elementary students and 45 for middle school students. 

What do the Classes Teach?

According to FFRF, the curriculum is “the equivalent of sectarian Sunday school instruction.” Others disagree. 

“It’s not teaching religion, but it teaches character and respect and how important it is to tell the truth,” teacher Courtney Tolliver told the Post. “The kids love it and the ones who don’t participate aren’t made to feel left out.” 

But Elizabeth Deal, a plaintiff in FFRF’s complaint, sees it differently. Deal, an agnostic, opted her elementary-aged daughter out of the class. But she told the Post her daughter didn’t have any alternative activities to take part in, and had to sit in a computer lab and read. She says her daughter was bullied by other students and has since placed her in a Virginia school. 

Others in Mercer County, including people of faith, also oppose the classes, the Post reported. They consider Bible classes during public school hours unconstitutional.

The First Amendment of the Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law respected an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” FFRF claims the classes equal government-sponsored support of a particular religion, violating the “Establishment Clause.”

Are Bible Classes in Public School Legal?

First Liberty Institute is defending Mercer County schools. The religious liberty law firm claims there is precedent for public schools offering Bible classes. The group’s website points to 1963 Supreme Court case School District of Abington Township v. Schempp, which affirmed the study of the Bible in public schools for a “secular program of education.”

“There are two things to look at,” said First Liberty attorney Hiram Sasser. “The first is whether you can have a Bible course at all. And the other is whether you can have the Bible course as it is presently constituted. It’s fair to say that we’re very confident on the first issue. And on the second issue … our client is very, very flexible in terms of making sure that the content is in compliance with the law.”

Is FFRF’s Complaint “Viable”? 

First Liberty filed a motion to dismiss FFRF’s lawsuit last Wednesday on April 19. It was the second motion to dismiss filed by First Liberty in the case — the first being in March. First Liberty said in March that FFRF’s “claims fail.” FFRF filed an amended complaint less than two weeks later. But First Liberty contends the FFRF complaint still isn’t “viable.”

That’s because FFRF is asking the court to ban Mercer County from offering any Bible classes at all, First Liberty’s latest motion says.

First Liberty says FFRF should focus only on the class curriculum — not the fact of the Bible classes themselves. First Liberty also claims FFRF’s plaintiffs have no legal standing to sue. Deal’s daughter no longer attends school in the district. The other parents cited as plaintiffs don’t have a child old enough to attend the classes. 

But FFRF notes it won a similar case before a federal appeals court in 2004. The case succeeded in stopping Bible teaching in certain Tennessee public schools.

“There is no legally permissible way for Mercer County Schools to continue with any type of program like this,” FFRF attorney Patrick Elliot said. FFRF claims Supreme Court case McCollum v. Board of Education as its precedent.

According to First Liberty attorney Jeremy Dys, “The school district is simply trying to follow the law.”

In addition to School District of Abington Township v. Schempp, First Liberty cited federal court case Wiley v. Franklin. In Wiley, the court decided in 1979 “that Bible study courses can be designed for use at all public school levels, from kindergarten to college graduate level, and can be designed to avoid violation of the First Amendment religious freedom strictures cannot be doubted.”