Columbus County Community Chat

Representatives from area churches bring petitions containing more than 6,700 signatures.

By FULLER ROYAL
Staff Writer

The Columbus County Board of Education is facing one of its biggest decisions in recent years – a decision that could result in legal action from two opposing groups and a decision that will leave some folks angry, no matter what’s decided.

The school board met in open forum Monday night in the Cerro Gordo Elementary School auditorium to discuss its 2007 decision not to allow the Columbus County chapter of Gideons to offer Bibles to fifth graders throughout the system.

The auditorium was about two-thirds full with county residents mostly in favor of allowing the Gideons to continue the 35-year tradition.

Superintendent Dan Strickland opened the meeting with a detailed history of the events leading to the Monday night gathering.

He said that two years ago, after the board of education had already okayed the Gideons’ Bible request for spring 2006, he received a call from the state representative of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

“We understand that in Columbus County, you have a policy of distributing Bibles,” Strickland said the representative asked. Strickland said there was no policy.

Strickland explained to the caller that the board had been approving a single request from Gideons to place Bibles on tables for fifth graders to pick up.

Strickland said that the ACLU representative informed him that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled such a Bible distribution was unconstitutional.

He said that the ACLU guaranteed that if the practice were to continue, there would be a lawsuit.

Strickland said that the request had already been granted, but they would look at it for 2007.

At the same time, the Brunswick County Schools was dealing with the ACLU on the same issue.

The Brunswick County Board of Education elected that year to not allow the Gideons to distribute the Bibles in order to avoid what could be expensive litigation.

One year ago, when the Gideons submitted their annual request, the Columbus County board turned them down but offered to allow them to distribute at the high school level, which would be allowed under law.

The right thing

“Our thoughts as a board were that we were doing the right thing,” Strickland said. “We never took the Bible out of the school. We moved it from fifth grade to high school.”

Strickland pointed out that students can bring Bibles to school and give them to all of their friends if they wish.

Strickland said that in Brunswick County two years ago, there were six or seven organizations ready to file suit for equal access.

County schools’ attorney Bill Phipps spoke next.

“We’ve had the pleasure of working with the Gideons all of these years,” Phipps said, adding that there has never been a problem since “we live in the middle of the Bible Belt.

“But no one had ever shot a bullet across our bow,” he said of the 2006 letter from the ACLU.

No policy

Phipps said the real problem lies with the county’s lack of a policy, one way or the other, concerning open or closed forum schools.

He said that the N. C. School Board Association (NCSBA) is working to complete a new policy manual this spring that is aligned with recent court decisions.

To comply with recent court decisions, the school board must decide if it will practice open or closed forum.

In open forum, Phipps explained, all religious groups, and not just the Gideons, must be granted equal access to students.

That means, when the board chooses a day for Bible distribution, it must also provide equal space for any other religious group – Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Wiccan or in extreme cases, Satanists or witches.

In closed forum, no religious group is allowed any access at all to students.

Phipps said that the policy written by the board could allow community-based materials promoting Scouts or area festivals.

No objections

He said that the board has been able to accommodate the Gideons because there have been virtually no objections from parents and there has been little religious diversity in the county.

“We haven’t had a complaint about the Gideons except from the ACLU,” he said.

He said that without a policy, the ACLU will take a hard look at all of the school board’s actions and determine if it’s an open forum with equal access.

Phipps said that Brunswick’s superintendent said she had received literature from non-Christian religious organizations to pass out on the same day as the Bibles, including several boxes of colorful Wiccan literature from a Wiccan church in Asheville.

A note was attached that read, “When you display the Bibles, display ours also.”

Phipps said that if his fifth-grade kids had come home with the Koran or Buddhist and Wiccan materials, he would have explained what they were as he threw them away.

He said that the only element the board could control would be illegal matter such as pornography or material that encouraged illegal activity or sedition.

Legal help

Phipps said that the school board had been contacted by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian rights group with a history of fighting the ACLU.

The ADF said that if the school board follows a policy of equal access and permits the Gideons to distribute the Bibles, it would represent it for free in court, should litigation arise.

“We don’t have equal access,” Phipps said. “We couldn’t win. What we’re trying to do is make sure we comply.”

Liability issues

Phipps said that if the school board were to be sued in federal court by the ACLU or a disgruntled parent, each board member could stand to have a judgment against him.

The board’s liability insurance is from the NCSBA. Phipps said if the board is sued and it’s not in compliance with recent court rulings, the NCSBA will not cover any damages or costs.

Phipps said a judgment and/or attorney fees for the plaintiffs could run several thousand dollars. He said the superintendent and assistant superintendent could also be sued.

“Judgments are collectible from the people representing you who are trying to educate your children and grandchildren,”
Phipps told the audience.

He said the members of the administrative staff are reluctant to put their personal financial wellbeing in harm’s way.

“We’re here to educate, not litigate,” he said. Phipps said it would be difficult to justify one or two million dollars in judgments and damages.

Phipps said the board is doing a good job educating the county’s children and they don’t need to be distracted by a lawsuit.

“There is a lot of worry and anguish when you’re sued,” he said.

Ed Worley, a longtime member of the Gideons, spoke next.

He asked the board not only to allow the distribution of Bibles to this year’s fifth graders, but to also to sixth graders, since they received none last year.

He said that in the 35 years he has been involved, only six children had ever turned down a Bible.

He called the Bible distribution something that the students look forward to.

“You can read it on their lips and the expressions on their faces,” he said.

Worley said that the fifth grade was the ideal grade for the Bibles. He said high school students have too many other things on their minds.

Bleak picture

Kip Godwin spoke next.

“Mr. Phipps paints a bleak picture,” he began. “You can’t believe anything the ACLU tells you. You can’t take their advice as gospel on legal matters.”

He said that the ACLU and the ADF have cited cases that support their positions.

“I encourage the board not to side with the ACLU but to side with the Christians of the county.”

Godwin told the group that if the county’s Christians don’t take a stand now, it will only be a matter of time before Bibles won’t be allowed in homes and people will not be able to assemble in church.

“We’re in Columbus County,” he said. “This has got to go a different way.”

Godwin encouraged all to pray for the board. “We don’t want them to be sued,” he said. “If we see a policy adopted the right way, the ACLU will go away.

Bad position

“As a board, you are caught in the worst possible position you could be in,” he said, addressing the board members.

He said they could be facing a lawsuit by the ACLU if they decide one way and a lawsuit by the ADF if they decide another.

“The ADF can bring suit against you as well,” he said. He accused the board of discriminating against the Gideons.

Broken the law

“By your own practice, you have broken the law,” he said. “You need a policy of equal access.

“Does that open the door to the Wiccans?” he asked. “They have the same right to assemble as we do. We’ve got to allow them all in. In Columbus County, it’s a little bit of a red herring to cite those examples.”

Godwin said that the law may not apply to just religious groups, but could also apply to Scouts and area festivals that wish to distribute literature.

Godwin suggested that a policy include the requirement that a religious group’s representative be present during the distributions of material.

“If you want to distribute materials, don’t ship it from Ashville,” he said, referring to the Wicca materials in Brunswick County. “You have to present it yourself.

“I don’t mind putting God’s word up against anything else offered,” he said. “Either you have a policy open for everything or not.”

Illegal act

Godwin said he didn’t think anyone there wanted to do something illegal, but he repeated his charge that the denial of the Gideon request was “an illegal act of discrimination perpetrated by the school board.

“You didn’t have to allow us to be on the agenda,” he said. “We appreciate this opportunity.”

Signatures

In the most dramatic moment of the evening, Godwin called for the representatives of more than three dozen churches to bring to the stage their petitions.

As they did, each church representative called out the number of signatures they had collected.

More that 6,700 signatures were gathered. The meeting switched to the open meeting portion. Two people spoke.

First was Dulah Baptist Church minister Ragsdale Allsbrook.

“Let them sue,” he said, adding that he was troubled when he first heard about the board’s denial of the Gideons’ request.

Sitting idly by

But he had a different take.

“Are we expecting the Gideons to do what we Christians ought to be doing?” he said. “We’ve been lazy and we’ve let (the Gideons distribute Bibles) while we sit idly by.”

He said he was thankful for the Gideons. “If lives are changed, it’s by the word of God,” he said. “The best method to distribute Bibles is by students.”

He suggested giving church youth Bibles to give to their friends.

‘”We’re going to take the offense,” he said. “God will do the rest. We need to be wise as serpents and harmless as does.”

A teary-eyed Allsbrook returned to his seat amid a standing ovation.

Strickland reiterated Allsbrook’s comment saying that students can distribute Bibles of their own accord.

The last speaker was Andrea Miller, a member of Hinson’s Crossroads Baptist Church.

She recalled receiving her red Gideon’s Bible as a fifth grader and how much it meant to her. Her daughter received one also several years ago.

“It’s wonderful to see the light of God’s word in a child’s eyes,” she said. “I believe our laws stem from our Bible and God laid down the first laws.”

She said that if other groups and religions place their materials in the schools, it will be the duty of parents to say to their children – “Hey, you don’t pick up that stuff.

“These kids need these Bibles. Some kids are from bad homes. These might be the only Bibles they get. I appreciate what the Gideons do, even if it means other groups’ stuff will be beside it.”

Keep partnerships

Strickland stressed how important the churches are to the schools and that he didn’t want to see any partnerships with churches come to an end.

He cited the Good News Clubs at two schools, the Bible Club at one of the high schools, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Meet at the Pole prayer programs as well as some church-based after-school tutoring programs in place for students at Hallsboro-Artesia Elementary School.