By Payton Tholstrup

The Republic County school district investigated an incident over the summer that occurred on May 7th during recess at East Elementary School in Belleville.

Katie Struebing, principal of the school, reportedly asked Ben Dreesen, a member of the evangelical Christian organization, Gideons International, to hand out bibles to students during recess. Before Dreesen’s visit, Struebing told parents and teachers that he would be handing out Bibles. On May 7th during his visit, Struebing helped Dreesen hand out the Bibles to students.

A student’s parents reported the visit to the American Civil Liberties of Kansas.

The Kansas ACLU sent a letter on Monday to Struebing, stating the school had violated the First Amendment. The letter said not only had the school violated the First Amendment, but also violated the school’s policies against promoting religious views.

In an emailed statement on Wednesday, the district’s superintendent, Tami Knedler, said that the school district was notified of the incident last spring and had already completed a thorough investigation. “I can assure you that our district is committed to welcoming all religious viewpoints, not promoting any specific one. We continue to review our practices and policies to ensure they reflect this commitment,” Knedler said.

The letter sent to Struebing and the school district can be viewed here: https://www.aclukansas.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/acluks_usd109_letter_08192024.pdf