BY KARISSA MILLER
The Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education on Monday declined to support an effort by board member Brian Sloan to display a poster that included the Ten Commandments in all district schools.
School board member Brian Sloan unveiled the “Founding Documents” poster, which also included the Bill of Rights and U.S. Constitution, last week.
During Monday’s board meeting, Sloan began by saying he was going to take his time and weigh his words carefully.
“I know this is a hot topic,” he said. “I was planning on postponing the vote this afternoon on the display behind me. I had a lot of comments from board members and from the public.”
Sloan explained that he wanted to make the Constitution in the poster “a lot easier to read” and “more legible,” but he couldn’t find the right image.
As a result, he changed the plan to “making the Ten Commandments less legible so they would be the same.”
“I don’t think I’ll make anyone happy,” he added. “I have a lot of time and money invested in this.”
Sloan said he wanted to proceed with the vote, but would make changes to the poster if the board approved it Monday night.
“Unless there have been some decisions made behind closed doors, it should pass 5 to 2,” Sloan said, basing his prediction on feedback he said he received from board members at the Committee of the Whole meeting on October 7.
A motion to vote on the poster failed to get a second by another board member.
Board member Mike Kubiniec then made a motion to postpone the vote until November, which received a second.
However, Chairman Bill Howell explained that if the board voted against the motion to postpone the vote on the poster that the motion would fail and it would not be brought up again as a voting item.
Board member Doug Knight, who opposed displaying the poster, said that he took an oath to uphold the law.
“This is a legal question here to me. It’s not a question of religion,” Knight said.
In the poster’s current form, he said, displaying it in a public school would violate federal law based on previous court cases.
Knight said that he had received emails from a national organization about challenging the legality of displaying Sloan’s Founding Documents poster in district schools.
“I don’t want to pay (our attorney for) them to take something all the way to Supreme Court. That’s a lot of legal fees. We have already talked about a budget and the tightness of our budget,” he said.
Knight said it would cost the district “thousands of dollars” to defend a lawsuit in court.
“I don’t want to lose that money that we could use for our nurses, our counselors, for our teachers and teachers aides that really make a big difference,” he said. “To me, our job isn’t to make news or get on national media. It’s to do what is best for kids.”
Knight also reminded the board that they were harshly criticized by the public for the cost of the new high school, which some dubbed “The Taj Mahal.”
“This is the legal Taj Mahal, in my opinion,” Knight said. “It goes against federal law, and I’m not going to knowingly break the law.”
Board member Anita Kurn asked the board to give Sloan more time to work on the poster and meet the legal criteria needed for it to be displayed in schools.
Vice Chairman Charles Kelly said he didn’t need more time to consider the legality of the poster.
“That question has already been taken to the Supreme Court. We have been told categorically you are fine with the state, but you will lose on the federal level. That’s money I don’t have,” he said.
Kelly said that he believes in the Ten Commandments, but the law right is clear when it comes to displaying them in public schools.
The motion to postpone a vote on the Founding Documents poster failed by a vote of 4 to 3. Those opposed were Abby Trent, Kelly, Howell and Knight. Those in favor of postponing the vote were Kurn, Sloan and Kubiniec.
Parent Richard Coleman spoke in favor of displaying the Founding Documents poster during the public comment period.
“One of the biggest arguments I get into all the time is was this country founded on Christianity — absolutely, it was,” he said.
“That display right there isn’t pushing Christianity. That display right there is showing you the moral foundation of which this country was built on. Why were those documents written that way? Why were they put together like that?” he asked.
Displaying the poster is not about pushing religion, it’s “about putting up a display that shows why the other two documents were written,” Coleman added.
Here we go again. I guess it was too much to hope that the ISS Board would stick to focusing on actual school stuff this year instead of fighting the latest internet-spawned culture war. What’s next? A proposal to place made-in-China Trump Bibles in schools that also contain the Constitution and Bill of Rights like the fine folks in Oklahoma are trying to do? Jesus wept.
Mr. Coleman misunderstands (deeply) what “those other two documents” were founded on. If he were to recall accurately his high school U.S. History class, he would clearly remember they were written to insure that no religious belief would ever be allowed to dominate or prevail over another in public life–not the opposite. They were all too aware of the perils of established religion. It drove the majority of European immigrants to these shores. They warned about the intrusion of religion into government and sought to save us from this exact kind of discussion and divisiveness by inscribing “freedom FROM religion” in one of those founding documents. If the Ten Commandments were ordered to be displayed in public school classrooms, a lawsuit will certainly follow. Perhaps some folks think the current SCOTUS majority would ignore the Constitution and precedent based upon it as they have demonstrated all too willingly to do in other matters.
Thank God – whoops! Thank goodness – this failed! This country was founded on religious freedom – not Christian freedom – and the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution clearly direct the country to have a separation of church and state!!!
This country’s founding principles and God are the one thing missing in the schools today! Our children need to be taught more about this and less about gender preference. People need to fight to put God in our schools. Laws need to be changed. One day everyone will have to answer to Him. God bless the schools and this country.
Fighting to put God in schools is anti-American. This country’s founding principles specifically excludes it: “the state shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” (U.S. Constitution, 1st Amend.). Children are not being taught gender preference; they are teaching us to accept who they are with tolerance and love. As far as answering to your god, perhaps you might peruse your Bible to see what Jesus said about love and tolerance, before your time to plead your case arrives.
Oh, the two-time commissioner loser had to go run his mouth after being in hiding for the last few months. Sir, it is pushing YOUR religion. Not everyone believes in Christianity like you do. Maybe you should try running for school board since you clearly can’t win a county commissioner race and you think you can do so much better than those who are currently on the board.
Religion doesn’t belong in public schools. It’s the law.
It’s funny how people refuse to believe there is a higher moral code than just their own judgment. You don’t have to believe the 10 commandments are the word of God, but at least realize that they serve the purpose of a good moral code which all should (and most already strive) to live by. I mean come on, just take out 1-4 and at least display 5-10 if you’re so concerned about “not pushing Christianity” on people.
It’s funny how people have invented a god to which they can delegate their own judgement. (I mean 60% is passing, right?) YOUR 6/10 commandments don’t serve, they copy the code of the individual conscience evolved to allow cooperative success for our species.
I think he still thinks he is on the ballot for November 5. The sign is still in his yard. Give it up, you lost & spent a pile of money doing so. He is definitely a M4L supporter.
Ms. Mary: I do have a thorough understanding of what drove a majority of European immigrants to the shores of the new world. And religious persecution did have a lot to do with it, but if you remember correctly it was the oppression of the Catholic Church over the new Protestant faith that was the driver of that situation. Separation of church and state was not in the original Constitution. It was a concept that came up in a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1802. The concept wasn’t to keep religion out of government; it was meant to keep government overreach from restricting religious practices and freedom of religion. But my whole point was the display that they are wanting to use in the public schools had nothing to do with promoting Christianity. It simply pointed out the moral foundation from which those documents were based. All law is based in some type of moral code and the founding fathers chose the ten commandments as the moral doctrine that they would base the new country on.
Ms. Lory: You are correct I am a two-time failed candidate for county commissioner, but I feel blessed just to be considered and to have finished fourth in both of those races. I stand up for what I believe in and I look to serve others ahead of myself. I’m curious in what ways you serve your community or if you just choose to attack others who look to do so. I find it ironic that you just chose to attack me for a personal position instead of attempting to actually disprove the points that I made during my comments.
If either of you would like to have a conversation and prove me wrong, I’m happy to host that conversation live on Facebook at your convenience. Just let me know when you’re available. Have a great day and God bless.
Mr. Coleman,
I see you are a history revisionist. My thoughts on your comments are:
1. Shame on you for being so touchy. Anyone running for a position of leadership as in an elected office must have the ability to accept not everyone is going to agree with you. Sometimes you must accept your position is not the opinion of the majority. Graciously accept defeat and move along.
2. SHAME for making a school board meeting a campaign stop.
Ms. Shanna:
Facts don’t need a majority vote to be true. I’m not currently running for office.
P.S. If you believe I’m a revisionist then accept my invitation to discuss this live on Facebook. You bring your sources of research and I will bring mine and we can discuss it together.
Cryin’ Brian miscounted his votes. Kelly threw him a curve ball by changing positions from the previous meeting, no? Seems Howell changed his position as well. Capn’ K tried to save Brian to no avail. Kurn did her usual incoherent word salad speech as well.
No Paula at the meeting? Hope she is OK.
What was the part where cryin Brian said he voted no confidence on the disquinished chairman, Mr. Howell?
Hopefully you people will forget about the R behind the names or maybe the Republican party will actually vet their candidates.
Long live the puppet master!!!!
Long live Ms Silencedogood
Long live WVA!!!
JoJo, out……..
I have to say that it is pretty good for some folks that I retired from teaching. I think about the requirement in Oklahoma to not only display the religious texts but to require the entire text in every classroom and to be used in every academic discipline, and I think of how much fun I could have having the students read about how the New Testament endorses slavery, or in Ezekiel 23:20, where she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses. I would probably have them turn to Leviticus 19:19 where it tells you to not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. Best be careful mixing rayon with cotton! I might have them check out Leviticus 9:10 where it says all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you, so shellfish, including lobster, shrimp and oysters will send you to hell. It would really be in keeping with our social media standards if I showed them Leviticus 21:17-23 where it says for whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is broken footed, or brokenhanded, Or crookback, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken … He shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries. Sometimes, ugly doesn’t play! Now, some of you may want to check out Deuteronomy 22:20–21 where it says if, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you. I guess since this is Iredell and not Israel, so your daughters are safe. There is so much more fun to be had. If only I was still teaching and you required me to use the Bible in my class.
Dear “Former Teacher”
I’m glad you are a former teacher.
Christians always want the 10 commandments displayed but never the Beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful? The pure in heart? Get outta here! Telling.
Also they want “freedom of religion” only for their religion.
Kudos to our school board members who upheld the Constitution.
Everybody step away from their computer, get outside and breathe in some fresh air. Spend some time with people you love. Laugh, smile, find job. The bitterness and disdain for one another we have right now is incredibly sad.
This is a spicy thread, I like it.