Foundation looking into Moulton school teacher promoting Christianity

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - On July 21st, the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote a letter to the Lawrence County School Superintendent, asking for an investigation into a teacher who it believes promoted Christianity to first graders in April.

Children were sent home with a coloring book. Inside it was a depiction of Jesus and a quote from the Bible stating “Jesus is Alive.” Chris Line with the Foundation says it isn’t the first time they’ve had to look into situations like these in Alabama.

“We’ve dealt with a lot of Alabama in the past,” Line said. “This actually may be the first time we’ve written to this specific school but there are other districts in Alabama that we’ve written to dozens of times.”

Superintendent, Dr. Jon Bret Smith defended the teacher’s position, releasing a statement saying in part, “based on my review of this situation, I believe the teacher was adhering to the requirements of the Alabama Course of Study. I have closed this matter and do not plan to take any additional action.”

Line says the Foundation may consider another course of action.

“We probably do a records request to the school to figure out what exactly took place to the best that we can about what the teacher’s teaching, why, and see if there’s any justifiable reason for this.”

The Foundation says this is about maintaining the separation between church and state.

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