Pa. School District Bans First Grader's Valentine's Day Card With Bible Verse; Parents Sue
The parents of a first grader are suing a Pennsylvania school district, accusing it of violating their son's constitutional rights when a teacher forbade him from distributing Valentine's Day cards containing a religious message to his classmates.
Donald and Ellen Abramo filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday on behalf of their son, identified in legal documents as "J.A.," against the Nazareth Area School District in Northampton County, Pa. The lawsuit alleges that J.A.'s constitutional rights were violated by a first grade teacher at Shafer Elementary School in Nazareth during a class "Friendship Day" party on Feb. 19, when the young boy attempted to pass out Valentine's Day cards to his fellow classmates.
The school's policy banning candy in class caused J.A. and his siblings to create Valentine's Day cards with the message of St. Valentine written on the piece of paper. The message read: "Happy Valentine's Day! St. Valentine was imprisoned and martyred for presiding over marriages and for spreading the news of God's love. In honor of St. Valentine's Day, I want you to know that God loves you!!!" It also included a reference to John 3:16, according to the lawsuit.
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When J.A.'s teacher spotted the religious message on the cards, she reportedly brought the issue to the attention of the principal. She then removed the religious notes from J.A.'s Valentine's Day cards, and the school principal later told the Abramo family that religious messages could not be distributed on campus during school hours.
The suit says that one of the boy's siblings was able to hand out the cards to his third grade class because the teacher failed to notice the religious notes attached to each card.
The Abramo family is being represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal nonprofit group. The legal group is requesting that the school district amend its policy to allow the distribution of religious materials during class activity time.
The lawsuit also supplies images of other Valentine's Day cards handed out at the school, with one including a skull, and another including Star Wars troopers holding guns.
"It's just troubling when all of that other stuff is allowed and then here's a message about Valentine's and quoting a Bible verse and it's the one that's targeted out and censored," Matt Sharp, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, told WFMZ-TV.
"Our hope is they will do the right thing and revoke the policy. This is a policy that applies from kindergarten to a senior in high school. That is all we are asking," Sharp added to The Express-Times.
