The Oklahoma Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a measure by the state education department that would have purchased 55,000 Bibles for public schools.
In an order of stay issued on Monday, Oklahoma Supreme Court Chief Justice Dustin Rowe granted a request to put the purchase on hold pending the resolution of ongoing litigation.
The stay was requested by officials with the Office of Management and Enterprise Services, which would have faced the possibility of being required to fulfill the Bible order.
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“We are always accountable to the taxpayers for all expenditures,” said Bonnie Campo, director of Outreach at OMES, according to the Oklahoma City-based publication NonDoc. “As a state agency named as a defendant in the lawsuit, we feel it’s important to ensure this process is fully transparent and all parties informed.”
Last year, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters announced that biblical studies would be emphasized in public schools’ social studies curriculum.
In an interview with The Christian Post last July, Walters said it was “of the utmost importance that our kids get a full understanding of American history.”
“Obviously, that includes the most read book in American history, the most purchased book in American history, the most cited book in the 17th and 18th centuries: the Bible,” Walters said.
“We’re not going to allow left-wing extremists and the teachers union to keep the Bible from schools in its historical context. So, we’re very proud to be the first state to put the Bible back into classrooms and make sure that our kids understand its impact in American history.”
In response to Walters’ directive, a group of clergy, teachers and parents of public school students filed a complaint against Walters, arguing that the directive “interferes with the parents’ ability to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their children” and “violates the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act.”
“OAPA requires detailed procedures to be followed to issue a rule, including provision of notice and a comment period. Superintendent Walters made no effort to follow these procedures,” read the complaint.
The lawsuit also claimed that the requirement for Bible teaching in public schools violated the authority of “individual school districts” to “select the instructional materials that they will use.”
Last November, after the lawsuit was filed, the state education department said it had already purchased 500 Bibles for schools, The Oklahoman reported.
Last week, the Oklahoma Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee rejected a request by Walters to allocate $3 million to the purchase of additional Bibles for public schools.
In response to the rejection, Walters announced that he was partnering with singer Lee Greenwood of “God Bless the USA” fame to get donations to secure the Bibles.
