The role of the school board in public education in the United States is wide-ranging. While routine duties include setting policies, adopting budgets and hiring staff, the most critical role of the local school board is to make decisions about curriculum and to incorporate their community’s viewpoint of what students should know into courses and textbook selection. The states and federal government are increasingly mandating certain standards, or educational goals, for each grade level, but it is up to the local school board to determine how the students will be taught the skills to master the standards. Curriculum, course outlines and textbooks remain under the control of local public school boards.
Our school board’s journey toward offering a Bible literacy course began in 2006, when several board members returned from a convention with information from The Bible Literacy Project. The first step for our board was to hear from an attorney regarding the legal aspects of the study of religion in public schools. Learning factual legal considerations was vital to ensure support from all board members. Next, our board requested a team of district curriculum leaders and high school teachers to explore possible course options. The team returned to the board with a variety of options for new courses, including Bible and Its Influence, Bible as Literature, Bible in Literature, Religion in America, World Religions, Classical Religions, Religions in the Arts, and Religion in Society. The enthusiasm of the teachers in presenting the various course possibilities was exciting to see, and confirmed our suspicion that students, too, would be interested in course offerings based on the study of religion.
Murrieta is located in southern California, mid-way between Riverside and San Diego, in southwest Riverside County. The area was recently rated as one of the most conservative in California. We are a high-performing K-12 district with 23,000 students. Murrieta is a fast growing area, and many families have moved here due to our great schools and family oriented community.
Our board understands our community’s perspective, and agreed with our teachers that students would be interested in a religion-based course. The decision of what course or courses to offer was a topic of many board meetings. A primary consideration quickly emerged - any new course should be rigorous and meet the University of California / California State University requirements as a college preparatory course.
All board meetings held to discuss the possibility of offering a religion based course were public meetings, and the community and press quickly became interested. We offered many opportunities for members of the public to ask questions, express their concerns and offer recommendations. As community interest increased, we often encountered residents who were misinformed that religion could not be discussed in public schools. It became important to repeatedly reaffirm the legal considerations as well as the difference between the academic study of religion as opposed to the school promoting religion. Many community members were supportive, while some felt that our public schools should not venture into the topic of religion.
The board ultimately decided to offer two new optional courses, World Religions and Bible in Literature. The World Religions course is a one semester course offered through our social studies department. The Bible in Literature course is a full year course offered through our English department. In our district, seniors must take an English course and the Bible in Literature course is one of four options which also include AP Literature, AP Composition and British Literature. All four courses meet the college preparation requirements of both the UC and CSU systems.
The Bible in Literature course description states, “The students study significant classical and contemporary literature that references stories from the Bible. The course focuses on the author’s use of Biblical stories as a source for the artistic expression of the complexities of human thought and experience.” Textbooks include works by Dante, Milton and Shakespeare, as well as the Bible and the Bible Literacy Project’s, “The Bible and Its Influence.”
The Bible in Literature course has proven to be popular with students, and following an initial growth period, enrollment has remained high, with students excited for the course and very engaged in learning. By taking the initiative to introduce the concept of offering a Bible-based course, and proceeding through a thoughtful and thorough process, our school board was able to create a new and vital learning opportunity for our students.
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