A public school in California ordered a 7-year-old boy to stop handing out Bible verses during lunch – and they dispatched a deputy sheriff to the child’s home to enforce the directive.
Christina Zavala made it a practice to include a Bible verse and encouraging note in her son’s lunch bag. The boy would tell his friends about the note and read them aloud at the lunch table.
It wasn’t long before children asked for copies of the notes and Mrs. Zavala obliged – including a brief note to explain the daily Bible verse.
That’s when a teacher called Mrs. Zavala and said her son would no longer be able to share the Bible verses because he was “not allowed to share such things while at school.”
The school would only allow the child to distribute the Bible verses outside the school gate – after the bell rang.
They complied with the demand.
It would be just a few hours later – when the Zavala family heard a knock at their front door. It was a deputy sheriff saying the school had sent him. He said school officials were worried someone might be offended by the Bible verses.
The family was not served with any sort of legal documents. It appeared to be a “friendly” warning.
Liberty Counsel is representing the family and calls the case a clear, gross violation of the rights of a child.”
The attorneys are demanding the school stop its policy of suppressing and censoring student religious speech. If they fail to comply, the school could face a federal lawsuit.
If that happens we can only assume a deputy sheriff will hand deliver the lawsuit to the school’s principal.