Student claims he was banned from reading the Bible in school

MARSHALL, MO -- Did a school violate a student's first amendment rights?

Loyal Grandstaff says he loves reading his Bible and decided to bring it to school before the Christmas break so he could read it during his free time, but the 7th grader says his teacher told him it wasn't allowed.

"I like to read my bible because it's a good book," he said.

The 12-year-old says he wasn't reading out loud and he says he wasn't sharing the Bible with his classmates.

"I was just reading, reading because I had free time. A time to do what I wanted to, so I just broke it out and read."

Was he bothering anybody while reading it?

"I shouldn't have been," he replied.

"I feel like it violated his freedom of religion but also his freedom of speech," said Loyal's father, Justin Grandstaff, who says he is trying to raise his children to honor God, work hard and do the right things.

He can't believe his son was banned from reading the Bible. "There's kids walking around disrespecting their teachers, kids walking around cussing and everything else and they're practically getting into no trouble at all."

Lance Tobin, the Principal at Bueker Middle School, says Bibles are not banned from the school, but he needs to look into the situation to get the details before he elaborates further.

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Student claims he was banned from reading the Bible in school