An Ohio high school student has stopped participating in class and doing his homework in protest of his school district's decision to remove a plaque of the Ten Commandments.
Marion City Schools displayed the plaque in a Marion Harding High School hallway for years before removing it this summer for fear of litigation.
The plaque was a gift from the class of 1953, and sat next to a copy of the Preamble to the United States Constitution. "After watching other Ohio school districts face legal challenges to their decision to keep the Ten Commandments posted," Principal Kirk Koennecke decided to remove the plaque, but faced opposition from high school freshman Anthony Miller.
"I don't care about my grades right now," Miller told The Marion Star. "I told the principal, until there is an agreement reached, I will not participate in any Harding-related activities, any Marion City Schools-related activities. sports, choir, classes, whatever," he explained. "I won't even wear my Harding Marching Band shirt."
Superintendent Gary Barber said that several people questioned displaying the Ten Commandments in a public school, and the decision to remove the plaque was "not made arbitrarily."
Barber and Miller had a meeting last week, and will meet again on January 6 to discuss where the plaque will go. Ministers, community members, administrators, and students will be involved in the discussion.
"Our responsibility, when we're challenged, is we do what's in line with the law," Barber said.
Three students, Shanna Morris, Cheyenne Abrams and Sydney Cook, began a petition to reinstate the plaque, and broke the story in the school newspaper. Miller plans to continue his protest, and continue circulating the petition.
Barber and Koennecke said that Miller will not face any negative consequences for his protest if he does not disrupt the school day.
