A middle school in Jackson, Ohio, has removed a picture of Jesus when the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued them due to Fifth Amendment rights. A child and two parents complained in February that the “Head of Jesus” photograph violates separation of church and state laws.
Phil Howard, superintendent of Jackson County Schools, told the Associated Press that he couldn’t gamble with tax payers’ money. If he lost to the ACLU, then it would be too great a burden for his community.
“At the end of the day, we just couldn’t roll the dice with taxpayer money,” Howard said, according to FoxNews. “When you get into these kinds of legal battles, you’re not talking about money you can raise with bake sales and car washes. It’s not fair to take those resources from our kids’ education.”
An ACLU spokesperson said they will drop the lawsuit if the school keeps the picture off the wall.
The portrait hung in the former high school’s “Hall of Honor” next to several important alumni, including now-deceased four-term Ohio Governor James Rhodes. The Hi-Y Club donated it to the school, and it represented the right of protected speech of the Christian organizations on campus, according to the Jackson County Daily.
