After complaint, KY school district removes Bible verse displays in locker room, hallway

An Eastern Kentucky school district removed several religious displays, including a locker room banner that read “But the Lord is with me like a Mighty Warrior. Jeremiah 20:11,” following a complaint from an activist group that promotes the separation of church and state.

Letcher County Schools announced on its Facebook page Monday that it had removed several displays that district officials believed violated with state law. The displays also included a religious Facebook post, and a hallway display that read “Jesus is my savior, you can’t scare me!”

Superintendent Denise Yonts said in a statement that student-generated clubs and religious displays will still be allowed, and that the administration wants “to assure our students and parents that I and the Letcher County Board of Education support our students’ religious freedoms in our schools.”

“Student generated religious displays, clubs, or activities are a very meaningful part of the culture of Letcher County Schools,” Yonts said. “Following the law allows us to continue to protect our students’ religious freedoms, and as the Superintendent, I will always do what’s best for our Letcher County students.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation first contacted Letcher County Schools last fall, after it received a concerned note from a resident of Whitesburg.

In its letter of complaint, the foundation cited the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that school sponsorship of religion is illegal, and that it sends an “ancillary message” to children and families that are not part of the religious group favored by the administration.

Yonts wrote a letter to the foundation in February informing them that the religious messages had been removed.

“We applaud the district for taking action to remedy this violation,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a news release. “Students in our public schools are free to practice any religion they choose — or none at all.”

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 10:49 AM.