School districts in our area have not reported any controversy over donated “In God We Trust” placards, officials said.
In the 87th legislative session, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 797, requiring school districts to display a donated framed copy of the statement, which is the official motto of the United States.
Despite some pushback reported in the Austin area from groups such as Texas Freedom Network, which has said the new law chips away at a clear separation between church and state, school districts in our local area said they have had no issues.
“We had this community group reach out to us and ask to present at a board meeting during open comments,” said Taylor Independent School District Superintendent Devin Padavil, who received the donation Oct. 17 from the Williamson County chapter of Moms for Liberty. “We gladly accepted them, and we have had no comments from the community.”
In Granger, the report has been similar.
“We have not heard anything from our community,” said Jeni Neatherlin, the superintendent for Granger Independent School District. “There have been no comments. They came they had reached out to our board secretary and told her them that they would like to be on the agenda and they came and presented them and we accepted them and we have put them up around the school and I have not had one comment.”
Neatherlin said they have displayed the placards in the high school and elementary school offices.
Thrall Independent School District School Board President Brian Holubec echoed Padavil and Neatherlin’s assessments.
“It has been a nonevent,” Holubec said. “It is one of those things that made me really nervous when they called me because public education gets beat up a lot. A lot of times, it is for things that are beyond the control of the school board, school district or anybody associated with it. And this is one of those things. “
Allison Tangeman, a volunteer for Moms for Liberty, which donated the framed posters to school districts in our area said the donations, which have included to a number of campuses in the Hutto Independent School District, have been well received.
“All of the schools have been very, very, very excited to get these donations,” Tangeman said.
