KYLE, Texas (KXAN) – The Ten Commandments are now posted in schools across Hays Consolidated School District after a Christian nonprofit donated more than 2,500 posters. With the passage of Senate Bill 10, school districts are required to accept and display any privately donated posters showing the religious text.
Not all Texas school districts are currently required to comply with new law. U.S. District Judge Fred Biery temporarily blocked the law after a group of families filed a lawsuit arguing SB 10 violated the First Amendment by promoting a specific religious viewpoint.
The order only applies to the 11 districts named in the lawsuit, including Austin ISD, Lake Travis ISD and Dripping Springs ISD. Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office appealed the injunction and instructed all districts not included in the ruling to comply with the law.
Hays CISD officials told KXAN the posters were donated by Fort Worth Christian nonprofit My Faith Votes. The organization’s website said its vision is to “see God honored in the public square.”
“[My Faith Votes] asked how many classrooms. We told them we have 2,539 classrooms and so, then they donated 2,550 posters of the Ten Commandments,” Hays CISD Chief Communications Officer Tim Savoy said.
My Faith Votes did not respond to KXAN’s request for an interview or questions about whether it gifted posters to other Texas school districts. The bill’s primary author, Texas Sen. Phil King, R-Arlington, was also unavailable for comment.
In a letter to parents, the district told parents it would not defy state law and planned to approach the mandate as a “learning opportunity.” The district decided to put posters showcasing the Bill of Rights next to the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
“The district intends to do this to give students a broader understanding of not only the responsibilities by which they might choose to live, but also the important individual freedoms they enjoy as Americans or while on American soil,” Superintendent Eric Wright wrote to parents.
at Lehman High School. (KXAN Photo/Kelly Wiley)
District classrooms also share a note next to every poster explaining the new requirements under SB 10 and explaining it did not use taxpayer funds for the posters.
English teacher Laura O’Dea has the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights hanging up next to her door. She said the posters, which were delivered on Wednesday, have already sparked questions from students. O’Dea said one student asked her if students would be required to recite the commandments after the pledge.
“I said I really don’t think that is what is coming but I don’t have clear answers for her,” O’Dea said. “As the teacher I am here to facilitate learning, but I am certainly not a preacher or on my soap box trying to convince anyone of anything. My job is to bring everyone together.
The new requirement to post the Ten Commandments has sparked conversations amongst students at the district’s campuses. Lehman High School Junior Nevaeh Lyons said her friends have discussed what the posters mean for their school community.
“I am a Christian myself – I like love all that type of stuff, but we’re kind of setting, we are making other people feel they are not welcome in a spot that they need to be welcomed in.”
It’s unclear how many districts have received donations of posters displaying the Ten Commandments, but some Central Texas districts said they have received smaller donations of posters – including Fayetteville, Cherokee and La Grange ISD.
Some districts reported not receiving any donations since the law went into effect.
“We have people who love the Ten Commandments and want them in schools. We have people that love the Ten Commandments but think, ‘hey that is probably a lesson better taught at home or in the church.’ We have people that are not Christian that other faiths. We have people that have no faith at all. The frustrating part about a law like this is it makes it look like the district is picking a side,” Savoy said.
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