Written by Don Byrd
Until yesterday, the Jackson School District in Ohio has refused to remove a portrait of Jesus, which hung first in a middle school , later moved to a high school, despite a church-state lawsuit claming such a depiction should not be displayed in a public school. The school district has resisted using the…creative, let’s call it, argument that the portrait isn’t school speech, but belongs to the student club that first put it up, some 60 years ago.
One important entity that seems not to have bought that argument is the school district’s insurance company. The Columbus Dispatch reports:
The district voluntarily ordered the removal of the portrait out of fear that it could be saddled with paying significant legal fees and costs if it lost the lawsuit brought by two parents and a student.
“Our insurance company denied coverage, and we cannot risk taxpayer money at this time,” Superintendent Phil Howard wrote in a statement last night.
Sadly, according to the Associated Press report, now the school district anticipates being sued by the student club, for refusing their religious picture.
