Va. School Board OKs Keeping Bible Classes

Va. School Board OKs Keeping Bible Classes

NewsMax.com Wires
Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005

STAUNTON, Va. -- Public elementary schools will continue to allow Bible classes during class time while the local school board conducts a one-year review to determine if criticism of the practice by some parents is valid.

Several hundred people attended the school board meeting Monday, with many standing and applauding the 5-1 decision to begin the review while continuing religious classes, a tradition in Staunton and some other rural Virginia school districts for more than 60 years.

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"My conscience tells me this community needs this program, and we need to keep it," board member Angie Whitesell said.

In the Weekday Religious Education program, first-, second- and third-graders go to nearby churches for Bible classes during school hours.

Some parents had asked the board to eliminate or modify the program, saying children who choose not to go are stigmatized and lose valuable class time.

The Supreme Court ruled decades ago that the classes do not violate the separation of church and state because they are held away from school premises.

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