The Warren County Board of Education tabled a proposal Thursday night to display the Ten Commandments in district schools while members examine whether the move could withstand potential legal challenges.
Board Member Jarvis Johnson said the district wants additional guidance before taking action. He said discussions would involve Director of Schools Grant Swallows, the district’s attorney and an individual with experience representing similar cases.
“If we decide to do this, we wanna make sure that it stands and it’s defendable, so we wanna make sure we do it the correct way,” Johnson said. “That’s gonna require a little bit of time to make sure every piece is where it needs to be.”
Johnson said the proposal stems from Tennessee House Bill 47. He addressed concerns that have surfaced as it pertains to other religions as the board considers the idea.
“There has been some discussion, if we were to do this, would other religions in part come in and want to post their documents?” Johnson said. “Do understand this is for the historical documents, not teaching the Ten Commandments. This is just posting the Ten Commandments.”
Swallows clarified the procedural options available to the board before members decided how to proceed.
“If we table something, that means we would have to pick it back up at the next meeting,” Swallows said.
Swallows said postponing the matter instead would allow the board to select a later date. The board does not have a regular meeting scheduled in November.
“I would say table it, because I think we will be able to do that, because we do not have a meeting in November,” Johnson said. “We do have one in December.”
Johnson said the additional time should allow the necessary discussions to take place. The board voted 6-0 to table the matter until its next meeting and could table it again if more time is needed.