• All information identifying each District campus where religious information, including but not limited to Gideon Bibles, has been distributed or displayed during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years and each District campus where religious information, including but not limited to Gideon Bibles, will be distributed or displayed during the remainder of the 2008-2009 school year;
• All information relating to the process by which individuals and/or organizations requested permission to distribute and/or display religious information on each District campus during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years, including but not limited to Gideon Bibles, including information as to whether each request was approved or denied and why;
• All information relating to any complaints the District has received regarding the distribution and/or display of religious information, including but not limited to Gideon Bibles, on District campuses during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years;
• All agendas, minutes, and audio or video recordings of District School Board meetings at which the distribution and/or display of religious materials, including but not limited to Gideon Bibles, was proposed, discussed, or approved;

Download PDF copies of the ACLU of Texas open records requests: Wylie (Abilene, Texas); Frisco; Marshall; Westwood (Palestine, Texas); Plano; Wichita Falls

“When public school officials endorse the distribution of religious materials, they risk violating the Constitution, no matter what the religion. That's because the First Amendment provides safeguards that prevent a government entity from favoring one religion over another,” said Graybill. “School-sanctioned distribution of Bibles on school campuses is no more acceptable than handing out copies of the Quran or Torah.”

ACLU of Texas Executive Director Terri Burke added, “The right to teach religion must be reserved for families and houses of worship. The Constitution protects that right by preventing public schools and other government entities from forcing a single viewpoint on them.”

In several instances, children targeted are as young as fifth graders, said Burke, while others are in middle school. “For some children, having a Bible thrust at them goes against their religious beliefs. Because of the climate in many of the offending school districts, children who have voiced objections to this practice have been humiliated and shamed by their peers and, in some cases, by school district personnel,” Burke added.

Graybill noted, “If parents believe their children have been subject to this practice, we would like to know about it. They can file a legal complaint on our website at ACLU of Texas - Projects - Legal.”

ACLU affiliates in Eastern Missouri and Louisiana have brought successful lawsuits against South Iron School District and the Tangipahoa Parish School Board, respectively, to stop similar practices.

For additional information on these cases

Missouri: http://www.aclu-em.org/legal/legaldocket/currentcases/southironschooldistrict.htm

Louisiana: http://www.laaclu.org/News/2008/Roe_042208.html