St. Elmo Junior & Senior High School removed religious signs from its property, after the Freedom From Religion Foundation contacted the St. Elmo Central Unified School District in Illinois.
FFRF learned the school had four signs posted on the school’s fence alongside a road reading “Plow the Land / Plant the Seed / Love Our God / Follow His Creed.” FFRF Staff Attorney Sam Grover sent Superintendent Deborah Philpot a letter on Nov. 25, 2014, asking the district to take down the sign. “Courts have continually held that school districts may not display religious messages or iconography in public schools,” Grover wrote.
“The signs suggest that the school has adopted one god, the Christian God, above all others and encourages readers to ‘follow His creed.’ This endorsement of a Christian message alienates those non-Christian students, families, teachers, and members of the public whose religious beliefs are inconsistent with the message being promoted by the school,” he continued.
After two follow-up letters, Superintendent Philpot informed FFRF on April 17 that the district had the signs removed in February.