TN District Takes Action After Second Graders Make Foam Christian Crosses on Valentine’s Day

Can we all just agree that this craft is okay to make in Sunday School, but not in a public second grade classroom?

That’s what a teacher had her students make at Highland Rim Elementary School in Fayetteville, Tennessee. (Actually, a parent led the activity on Valentine’s Day, but the teacher assisted with the project.)

And if the kids did well on their homework assignments, she gave them this stamp:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation’s Ryan Jayne sent a letter to the District, informing them that this promotion of Christianity must stop:

“Public schools have a duty to ensure that ‘subsidized teachers do not inculcate religion’ or use their positions of authority to promote a particular religious viewpoint, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled,” FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne wrote to Bill Heath, director of Lincoln County Schools. “Religious endorsement is particularly troubling when it is presented to such young and impressionable students.”

To their credit, the District responded earlier this month detailing the exact steps they had taken to address the situation and make sure it won’t happen again. No lawsuits. No public shaming of the teacher. Just a group pointing out a problem and the administrators fixing it.

Why can’t that happen more often?