A school superintendent in Virginia says that a Bible verse engraved on a bench that memorializes a student who died in an ATV accident last year must be removed in order to be “legally compliant.”
The Charlotte Court House community came together following the death of Colton Osborne, a student at Randolph Henry High School known for his love of baseball, to purchase a bench in his memory and place it near the school baseball field. “The community of Charlotte County is a very sweet and loving community, and they do frequently request to give memorials,” Superintendent Nancy Leonard told
local television station WSET. However, because the bench includes text from Philippians 4:13, which reads, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” the school board says that it is concerned that it is violating the Constitution. “During [discussions with our attorney on memorial policies], we found that the memorial bench that we currently have is not legally compliant because of the Establishment Clause,” Leonard said. READ MORE
