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JACKSON, Ohio — After months of controversy, a portrait of Jesus that hung in a southern Ohio middle school for 65 years was taken down due to concerns about the costs of a federal lawsuit.
The picture "Head of Christ" had been on display at Jackson Middle School since 1947. Last February, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued on behalf of a student and two parents, calling the portrait an unconstitutional promotion of one religion over another in a public school.
The superintendent of Jackson City Schools said the picture was taken down April 3 at his direction after the district's insurance company declined to cover litigation expenses.
At the end of the day, we just couldn't roll the dice with taxpayer money.
–Superintendent Phil Howard
"At the end of the day, we just couldn't roll the dice with taxpayer money," Superintendent Phil Howard told The Associated Press. "When you get into these kinds of legal battles, you're not talking about money you can raise with bake sales and car washes. It's not fair to take those resources from our kids' education."
The portrait hung in the "Hall of Honor" in the middle school, which was formerly the high school, alongside portraits of dozens of prominent alumni and people with local roots. In March the district instructed the Hi-Y Christian club, which the district says donated the picture, to move the portrait to the current high school building.
The ACLU had an earlier lawsuit against schools in nearby Adams County over a Ten Commandments display that federal courts ruled was primarily religious in nature; however, courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have allowed some displays if deciding their primary purpose is non-religious and they don't promote one religion over another.
The groups that sued called the move "nothing more than a contrived pretext to conceal" what they said was the school officials' continued involvement with the maintenance and display of the portrait.
"Moving the religious portrait from one public school building to another does not change the fact that it is unconstitutional," an ACLU spokesman said.
District officials had agreed that if the portrait belonged to the district, it may have violated the Establishment Clause. But since it was a gift, it was protected by the First Amendment, the district contended.
