Ohio school ends bible distribution program - Nation - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 20, 2002 by Gill Donovan

Rushville Middle School Principal Gene Scott has agreed to stop the practice of allowing representatives from Gideons International to enter the Ohio school to distribute copies of the New Testament. The agreement followed a complaint by a parent that free copies were being passed out in her son's class. The public school of about 295 students is in Rushville, a town of about 1,1550 residents some 415 miles southeast of Columbus.

"This is my third year here, and we had not received a complaint until about a week ago," said Scott. He also said he will stop the voluntary recital of the Lord's Prayer after the Pledge of Allegiance, opting instead for a moment of silence. A parent complained that on Nov. 20 a representative of Gideons International was allowed to give out New Testaments in a fifth-grade science class. The parent, who did not want to be identified, contended the practice violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

The Nashville, Tenn.-based Gideons International, a group of Christian business and professional men founded in 1899, distributes Bibles in hotels and motels, prisons, hospitals and colleges. The group refused to discuss its policy toward public schools.