I will agree with Starnes on one point at the outset, this should have been handled privately, not in front of the class. As for the rest we will have to see what becomes of the schools "interpretation" of "during recess, the lunch hour, or other noninstructional time" and where this incident falls in that regard. If this "free reading time" is as stated then the teacher is dead wrong in her piss poor attempt at correction and should be corrected and disciplined.
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A Florida school teacher humiliated a 12-year-old boy in front of an entire class after she caught him reading the Bible during free reading time.
The teacher, at Park Lakes Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, ordered Giovanni Rubeo to pick up the telephone on her desk and call his parents.
As the other students watched, the teacher left a terse message on the family’s answering machine.
“I noticed that he has a book – a religious book – in the classroom,” she said on the recording. “He’s not permitted to read those books in my classroom.”
The Liberty Institute, a legal firm that specializes in religious liberty issues, is now representing the Rubeo family. They are demanding that Giovanni be allowed to read his Bible during free reading time. They also want the school to issue a written apology to the boy.
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After he received the teacher’s message, Rubeo contacted the school. He said the principal said she would have to turn the matter over to their legal department. Rubeo then wrote a letter to the school ordering them to cease and desist the harassment of his son.
“This it to give you written notice to stop breaking the law & violating my son Giovanni Rubeo’s constitution first amendment right of free speech and religious expression,” the letter states. “Do NOT tell my son he cannot read his Bible during free reading hours during class or any time when students are allowed to read books of their choice.”
Liberty Institute provided me with a response from Orinthia Dias, the principal of the school.
“You child is permitted to read the Bible before school, after school and during lunch, in accordance to the law,” the letter states.
This, friends, is what we call parsing words. Notice that the principal avoided the issue. This is about letting a child read a Bible during free reading time.
Teacher tells student he can't read the Bible in classroom | Fox News
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