As part of a survey of world religions, teacher Cheryl LaPorte presented her students with the Muslim statement of faith, as rendered in Arabic calligraphy.
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Bond said the school district received “voluminous” phone calls and emails after a Riverheads High School teacher asked students to complete an assignment that included practicing calligraphy and the Muslim statement of faith, “there is no god but Allah”.
Augusta County School District officials said that there had been no specific threat of harm to students. As a result of those communications, the Sheriff’s Office and the school division coordinated to increase police presence at Augusta County schools and to monitor those communications.
Augusta County students won’t return to school until January 4.
The story is now making national headlines and upsetting some parents and family members of students who attend Riverheads High.
Augusta County Schools and all administrative offices will be closed Friday, December 17, 2015.
A Virginia geography teacher is under attack for teaching her students about Islam by asking them to wear hijabs and to copy a piece of Arabic text that meant “There is no other God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger”.
Students were also shown copies of the Koran, and female students were invited to try on a scarf as part of a lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress.
The county canceled extracurricular activities through the weekend.
Kimberly Herndon said she felt her rights as a parent had been violated when her ninth-grade son came home with this homework assignment.
‘She [LaPorte] gave up the Lord’s time, ‘ Herndon stated of the spiritual lesson when chatting with the.
During a forum Tuesday night at the Good News Ministries church in Greenville, parents discussed the lesson and some expressed outrage over what they called indoctrination. “Each of the lessons attempts objectively to present world religions in a way that is interesting and interactive for students”. Security was also increased at other county schools, Fisher said.
According to the News Leader, local opinion on the incident has been sharply split, with John B. Parker of Waynesboro, Virginia, writing on Facebook, “Are any of you deeply disturbed parents concerned that your child might convert to Islam?”
The school district further defended the lesson saying the assignment was consistent with the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning and the requirements for content instruction on world monotheistic religions.
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In the future, NBC29 reports, the school says it will use a non-religious Arabic phrase for the assignment.
