In December 2018, local former educator Tony Isola stood up in front of the Camp Verde Unified School District Governing Board, and made the case that the school district should consider a class teaching the Bible in its historical context.
A 2012 law passed by the Arizona State Legislature, House Bill 2563, gives school districts legal permission to teach the Bible under certain circumstances, if they so choose, though no Arizona school district has yet made it all the way to teaching a class.
In February, the CVUSD Governing Board instructed Administrator-In-Charge Danny Howe to look into the possibility of moving forward with such a class.
At the school board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, a potential Bible class became a little closer to reality, as the school board voted unanimously in a 4-0 decision to adopt “The Bible, A Foundation Document of Society,” a curriculum prepared by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, for use in Camp Verde High School.
Board member Eric Lawton was absent from the meeting.
According to Howe, the class is still a ways away from happening. No teacher has yet been selected to teach the class, though Howe expects that the search will not be difficult. Howe also said that since the class will be an elective, it will only happen if enough students sign up to take it.
The school board decision has already stirred controversy. After the February meeting, the Secular Coalition of Arizona sent a letter to the school board and followed up with a similar letter in April warning of the potential illegality of teaching the Bible in public schools, due to Constitutional doctrine protecting the separation of church and state.
“Allowing access to schoolchildren during school hours to proselytize and recruit for religious activities is a violation of the Establishment Clause [of the First Amendment],” Diane Post wrote in the SCA’s letter dated Feb. 28. “The state constitution makes it perfectly clear that no one should be molested or harassed because they do or don’t belong to a specific religion or any religion at all. By promoting a specific church and a specific religion, you are violating the constitutional rights of every child in the school, but especially the child and their parents who do not believe in or attend that specific church or religion.“
According to HB 2563, Bible instruction must be limited to a course titled “The Bible and its Influence on Western Culture,” focusing on the history and literature of the Old and New testaments and their impact on culture.
The course must follow all applicable law to maintain religious neutrality and accommodate “the diverse religious views, traditions and perspectives of pupils” and requires certification and training for teachers.
In November 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled in Freedom From Religion Foundation Inc. v. Mercer County Board of Education against a West Virginia school district that had attempted to teach a class on the Bible. The U.S. Supreme Court did not take up the appeal, leaving the 4th Circuit ruling in place.
Howe said that the class is intended to follow within the guidelines provided by both HB 2563, and U.S. Supreme Court doctrine, and is focused on teaching the historical context of the Bible, not to teach religion.
“It’s just a more in-depth standard about how the Bible affected Western civilization,” Howe said. “I know that if I put a teacher in the classroom and had them stand up there and start teaching the Bible and putting their views in and indoctrinating, we’d be in big trouble.”
But Post insists that the curriculum chosen by the school would not teach the Bible in a way that is purely academic, but would lean too closely to teaching religion.
“There’s actually a way that it could be done,” Post said. “However, the particular material that they plan to use from the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools — I have read all 684 pages of the teacher’s edition, and that is absolutely not an academic or disinterested teaching curriculum for this purpose.
“I’m sure it could be done […] but this curriculum is absolutely not it.”
The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools did not respond to requests for comment. The organization’s curriculum has twice been rejected after lawsuits in Texas in 2008 and Florida in 1998.
Howe said that if the school district is sued by the SCA or any other group opposed to the teaching of the Bible in public schools, he does not know how the district would respond.
Board President Tim Roth did not respond to request for comment on the response to a potential lawsuit. But in the meantime, Howe expressed enthusiasm for the attempt to move forward, and not let initial complaints stop the district from attempting to teach the class.
“That’s not a good approach to education either, not wanting to venture out because we’re uncomfortable,” Howe said.
