A school district from the state of Arkansas in the United States has ordered a bus driver to stop tuning in to a Christian radio station when bringing children to and from school.
The Siloam Springs School District issued the order after receiving a letter from the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) expressing concern over the music being played by an unnamed bus driver in Bus # 24.
The driver reportedly plays music from the local Christian station KLRC when taking students to and from school. The KLRC is a radio station which has a mission to "share hope in Christ."
The FFRF told the school district that the bus driver cannot play Christian songs while with the schoolchildren, citing the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State.
"Public school bus drivers are agents of the school district and are subject to the same constitutional restrictions as other district staff, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. District employees may not promote Christian or other religious messages to students," the group's letter read.
The foundation added that students on the bus "are a captive audience and cannot avoid listening to broadcasts that the driver selects."
Siloam Springs School District superintendent Ken Ramey agreed with the FFRF, maintaining that public school employees cannot favour any particular religion in the performance of their duties.
"We understand that the students on the bus are in a contained situation and under the establishment clause we're supposed to be religiously neutral," Ramey told 5NewsOnline.com. "So, we see this as a verifiable incident that can be corrected."
The school district official added that he had already spoken to the driver and that the issue has already been resolved. The bus driver, he said, meant no harm in playing Christian music inside the vehicle.
"We'll just simply be educating our people, bring it to the conscious level," Ramey said. "Just really good people who have no intent to promote religion, it's just who they are."
