The future of Bible classes for some Madison County public school students remains uncertain while the board of supervisors considers new places for the classes to meet.
A concern over the precedent it would be setting prompted the board of supervisors to ask the Children’s Bible Ministries of Virginia to delay starting its fall classes at Madison County Primary School. The board wants more time to discuss the legality and implications of agreeing to the ministry’s request.
The children’s ministry is looking for a new place to park its trailer when offering its program to students at the primary school. The ministry has been operating what it calls a “release time program” housed in a trailer since religious classes were removed from all public school grounds in 1971, according to Diane Wagner, who teaches the Bible classes for Madison County.
“I’m concerned about what we’re opening up if we make a decision,” said Board Chairman Eddie Dean at last week’s supervisors workshop
meeting. “I think we need to ask (the ministry) to reschedule (its) October meeting until after our October board meeting and we can get some legal advice.”
The religious program, which takes place during the class day, offers classes to students once a month along with events out side of class and summer programs.
The trailer moves between several schools. In Madison County it visits Madison Primary School and Waverly Yowell Elementary School. At the primary school, the trailer has reportedly been parked on the west shoulder of the lane leading back to school from Fairground Road, but technically not on school (or Hoover Ridge) property.
Work done on a water pipe made the ground at the location uneven. The group was asked by Madison County Public School Superintendent Brenda Tanner to move the trailer, according to Wagner.
The ministry’s proposal was to park the trailer in the adjacent Hoover Ridge facility.
“The site (at the primary school) has been used every year (since the school was built), but Dr. Tanner asked us to move the trailer because last year a waterline (was buried) and it changed the slope of the bank and the trailer is now closer to the road,” said Wagner.
“The problem with the current location is that it looks unstable,” said board member Bob Miller. “If someone were to sideswipe the trailer, children could get hurt.”
The program takes place one week a month from October through May. The classes at the primary school were scheduled to start on Monday, Oct. 5, however the board of supervisors does not meet again until Tuesday, Oct. 13. Because it only votes at its workshop meetings in emergency cases, according to Dean, the group did not make a definitive ruling on the issue at its meeting last week.
The primary reason the board gave for not agreeing to the proposed move for the trailer was the precedent it would set for others wishing to use the Hoover Ridge facilities.
“This would be something new,” said County Administrator Lisa Robertson. “To date Hoover Ridge has been used mainly for sports and recreational activates and public uses and because Hoover Ridge is still something new we don’t really have a set of use guidelines in place.”
“I’m not concerned about the program,” said Dean. “I’m concerned about the precedent – we need to use policies and procedures for Hoover Ridge and we need legal advice (before they can take a vote). We have to look at the bigger picture.”
Robertson agreed with this opinion.
“I think that the issue that Mr. Dean is talking about is that if another group, regardless of who they are, proposed to bring a trailer to Hoover Ridge and park it in a particular location for their own purposes,” said Robertson. “Is that something that’s consistent with the overall intention for how Hoover Ridge is to be used? Because you don’t want to discriminate among people based on who they are, but you want to make sure that the property for Hoover Ridge is going to be available for the uses for which you intend it all the time.”
The concern over creating a use policy for Hoover Ridge is stems from the request of the Children’s Bible Ministry, but is unrelated to the nature of its program said members of the board. The concern is fulfilling all legal obligations and being able to continue to offer the Hoover Ridge facility to people who wish to use it. By allowing the group to park its trailer there the board would, in essence, be allowing any group similar use rights.
“Once you allow one group you can’t not allow another group with a similar request,” said Robertson. “It has nothing to do with your opinion of what the people are doing, it’s the ability to keep control over your space.”
With this concern in mind, the board postponed making an immediate decision on the subject. Rather, the members agreed to discuss the issue again at their next regular monthly meeting, which is set for 3 p.m. Oct. 13 at 414 N. Main St., when County Attorney V.R. Shackelford would be present.
Dean requested that the Bible classes for primary school students not meet until a suitable agreement can be reached. However, he did ask Wagner to bring any information her group might have about similar instances in other locations. He was looking for the legal precedent established by other communities who offer the program.
The trailers are used in Madison, Orange, Greene, Page and Culpeper counties, according to the ministry’s Web site (www.cbmofvirginia.org).
Though the location problem will change the start date of the classes offered at the primary school, it should not affect the classes at Waverly Yowell. The trailer is scheduled to be there on Monday, Oct. 19, according to WYES Principal Karen Allen.
Dean did suggest that one possible alternative would be asking the VDOT to fix the slope of the hill so the trailer could remain in its original location.
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