Richmond, USA - A southwestern Virginia school district is reposting copies of the Ten Commandments in all county schools, despite concerns that doing so is unconstitutional.
The five-member Giles County School Board voted unanimously to restore the framed, 4-foot-tall posters after parents and local ministers were upset about their removal from the district's five schools and its technology center. The decision came even though the board's attorney had previously advised that such displays were an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.
The Roanoke Times reported that the school district reposted the commandments last Friday.
The Ten Commandments were up on school walls in Giles County for at least a decade next to framed copies of the U.S. Constitution. School officials took them down and replaced them with the Declaration of Independence in mid-December after a resident complained.
The board reversed that decision last week after about eight parents and pastors, joined by a throng of supporters, told the board that the schools had a moral obligation to reinforce God's teachings.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that it is unconstitutional for public schools to post the Ten Commandments. The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia is considering whether to sue.