Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990 TAG: 9004200834
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HARRISONBURG LENGTH: Medium
Calling the decision unfair, most of the students remained in the football stadium throughout the morning Thursday, despite requests by Principal Ed Smith to return to class.
Smith stood by the fence next to the track, addressing the crowd in the stands through a public address system. Many students waved signs. Others yelled to the principal that their rights were being denied.
"They've been doing this for years, and there's never been a problem," said senior Melinda Shiflett. "We just want our Bibles, as has been the tradition at graduation. And as a class as a whole we're fighting this together."
Sherry Tracy said students have the right not to take the Bibles, "but that shouldn't jeopardize the rest of us from taking it."
Smith said Spotswood students have been receiving Bibles at graduation for nearly 30 years, since before the consolidation of Montevideo and Elkton High schools in 1981.
After some members of the community asked Smith to discontinue the Bible distribution, Smith asked Superintendent of Schools David Andes to look into the legal question raised, Andes said. The school district's attorney recommended that the Bibles be absent from graduation, he said.
School officials contacted the people who had protested the presence of Bibles at graduation, and recommended a compromise to avoid an abrupt halt to the tradition, he said. The compromise was rejected, however, and this week Smith made public his decision to bar the Bible gifts from the ceremony.
"Apparently the students feel like they're losing something," Andes said.
"Hopefully, the students and the community will have some input into a final decision on the issue," Smith said.
"Everyone is going to get their Bible," he told the students. "But at this point, I'm just not sure where or when."
by CNB