Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend this evening’s school board meeting in Chilliwack, so I only have second hand reports from Twitter to go on. Nevertheless, the news is out that the Board voted to repeal their policy supporting the distribution of Gideon Bibles.
The Board was further unable to come to an agreement on bringing in a new policy to regulate the distribution of materials in schools. This new policy could have been similar to Abbotsford’s policy which is vague and leaves the rules about specific materials up to the superintendent. In Abbotsford this means a number of schools reportedly do distribute Gideon Bibles. Other districts maintain policies that reference the School Act’s mandated secularism.
In the absence of a policy, it seems likely that the decision is up to the superintendent, in which case the current practice may continue.
Hopefully the reports tomorrow and on Thursday will clear up the details. In either case, the BC Humanist Association will continue to advocate for secular values and freedom from religion in BC schools.
Update: According to Chilliwack Times reporter Cornelia Naylor on Twitter, the Board is giving staff until March to draft a distribution of materials policy.