A school board in Delaware has deadlocked on the question of whether to allow an elective Bible class.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports that the Cape Henlopen Board of Education split Thursday night during a debate on a proposed class created by the Bible Literary Project.
One board member was absent from the vote, and the school board president says he'll consider putting the item on the next agenda.
Opponents of the class, which would center on the Bible's influence on history, art and literature, raised constitutional concerns. They said any course on the Bible should include discussion of other religions as well and they worried whether it would distract from preparing for state exams.
Superintendent Robert Fulton had recommended that the class not be approved.
“Our team found that this class is constitutional, but the constitutional lines are too easy to cross,” Fulton told the board. “Even with large amounts of training, we feel that it would be hard for a teacher not to cross one of those lines.”
Several board members argued on behalf of the class, saying they thought it would give valuable knowledge about a text with huge influences on society, according to the paper.
