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The State Board of Education cleared the way Friday to add an elective Bible course for high school students, but the issue is far from clear.

Still to be determined are details such as whether school districts will be required to add the elective if requested by 15 or more students and exactly what can and can't be taught in the course.

Cathy Ashby, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Abilene Independent School District, said the district is waiting on the Texas Education Agency to write the curriculum.

"If it's required we'll add it," she said. "We will follow the guidelines of the state."

Problem is, the state guidelines aren't exactly the Ten Commandments when it comes to precise and concise language.

For example, because the State Board of Education voted 10-5 in favor of the rule establishing the elective, the course can be put in place this fall. If the vote had been less than two-thirds, the course would have been delayed until the fall of 2009.

Also, Attorney General Greg Abbott has yet to rule on whether high schools must offer a Bible course if requested by at least 15 students, which was mentioned in the legislation that was passed in 2007.

Also muddying the waters was the State Board of Education's decision to reject a call by one of the bill's authors for specific guidelines in establishing the elective.

Instead, the majority of the 15-member board said they preferred to adopt a general rule now and not get into specifics of what can be taught. Critics say that leaves open the threat of running afoul of the First Amendment if a teacher strays into proselytizing or denouncing a particular religion.

AISD's Ashby said a certified teacher will have to be identified before a course can be added to local high schools. That person may or may not already teach in AISD schools.

A spokesperson for Wylie Independent School District could not be reached Friday.

Ashby said it isn't a "given" that 15 AISD students will request that the course be added, even in a city noted for its three church-affiliated universities and numerous churches.

High school students don't have much time in a school day for electives, she said. With students being required to take four years of English, history, math and science, their elective selections are limited.

"It doesn't leave a lot of room for electives," Ashby said.

The purpose of the proposed Bible elective, as outlined in House Bill 1287, makes it clear the class cannot be an avenue for advocating or denouncing any religion.

A former Cooper High School teacher said he doesn't think that will be a problem.

Mike Thomesen taught world and European history at Cooper for 15 years.

Thomesen teaches education courses part time at McMurry University and is the school's teacher certification officer. He holds a bachelor's degree in Bible and a master's degree in ancient church history from Abilene Christian University.

Even with his Church of Christ background through ACU and his brush with Methodism through McMurry, Thomesen said teaching the Bible from an academic, not devotional, point of view isn't difficult.

Thomesen said it always was important to him as a teacher to remain neutral.

"I had a great idea of where that line was you didn't cross," he said. "I was going to make sure I didn't cross it. I never found it difficult."

In his 15 years of teaching high school classes, Thomesen said he received only one call from a concerned parent, who was satisfied with his answers to her questions.

A local minister, the Rev. Robert Bush of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, said he thinks the course would be good if taught correctly, meaning according to law.

"I think it would be incumbent upon the school board to lay down some guidelines within the law," he said.

Bush said he would see nothing wrong with a course that presents varying beliefs along the line of "this is what some say -- this is what others say."

Bush said he likes the idea of adding the elective, at least as an experiment. If it turned out to be a disaster, he said, voters could start talking to their representatives about rescinding the law.

One thing the addition of a Bible elective probably wouldn't do is draw in more local home-schooled students. AISD's Ashby said about 35 home-schooled children attend AISD schools part time.

They mostly sign up for classes that require expensive labs, such as chemistry, or that can't be taken alone, such as choir or band.

AISD doesn't charge tuition if a home-schooled child takes fewer than three classes, Ashby said. Most take only one, she said.

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2008/ju...s-schools/