Future of portrait of Jesus in Jackson schools decided

7/13/2013

JACKSON, Ohio — The controversy over a portrait of Jesus that has been on display for decades in a southern Ohio high school apparently didn’t end in April when the district took down the portrait.

Court records say the portrait remained in the building, in view of those entering the art-room storage area, and was displayed on the school lawn during a prayer meeting on May 2.

That stirred up another round of legal filings in U.S. District Court, in which two parents and a student, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, had sued the Jackson school district in February.

Now both sides have reached a tentative settlement that could end the federal lawsuit.

Neither side would discuss the details of the pact, a handwritten agreement reached July 2. Thursday, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley ordered the two sides to submit the settlement to the court within 90 days.