WAYLAND, Mich. -- A school superintendent has told Gideons International it may not hand out Bibles to fifth-graders this year, ending a 12-year tradition, according to the Associated Press.
Two Gideons had planned to distribute the Bibles at the Pine Street School, as they have done each spring since 1990. A parent's complaint to the American Civil Liberties Union, however, prompted Wayland Union Schools superintendent Thomas Tarnutzer to halt the practice.
The ACLU said the practice violates the constitutional separation of church and state, according to the Associated Press.
Gideons International is a Nashville, Tenn.-based group that places Bibles in hotel rooms. Gideons regularly distribute Bibles on college campuses and in foreign countries.
