School district agrees to remove Ten Commandments monument to settle lawsuit with atheist group

A school district in Pennsylvania has agreed to remove the Ten Commandments monument from a local high school and pay $163,500 in legal fees in order to settle a lawsuit with an atheist group.

The New Kensington-Arnold School District has agreed to remove the monument within 30 days from Feb. 15 as part of the agreement with the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), according to Trib Live.

"In order to take the high road, as they say, we compromised and agreed to remove the monument," said New Kensington-Arnold School District Superintendent John Pallone.

The school district's insurance company will be paying $163,500 in legal fees, including more than $40,000 to the FFRF.

The lawsuit against the school district was filed in September 2012 by Marie Schaub, an atheist who said that the monument was a strictly religious symbol. She argued that the monument was offensive to herself and her daughter, who was attending Valley High School at the time.

In July 2015, her lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Juge Terrence F. McVerry, who ruled that she had no standing to file a suit as she had withdrawn her daughter from the school.

In December that same year, the FFRF brought the case to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in August that Schaub had the standing to sue. The appeals court noted that withdrawing daughter from the school was proof of "injury" from having to see the religious symbol daily.

Schaub expressed relief and excitement that the case has been brought to a close.

"It's unfortunate that many people in my community don't understand or appreciate the separation of church and state, but I hope this settlement serves as an important lesson," she said. "I'd like to thank the FFRF for all of their help and everyone who has supported our cause," she added.

The monument was presented to the district as a gift from a local Fraternal Order of the Eagles branch about 50 years ago, as part of a nationwide movement in response to the 1956 release of the movie "Ten Commandments."

Pallone said that officials are not sure where to put the monument but assured that it would not end up on district property. He questioned the motive of the lawsuit and argued that the monument is not prominently displayed at the school. He added that many people do not even notice the religious symbol, and he himself never stopped to read it when he attended high school there.

He said that the district believed that the case can be won, but they decided to settle now instead of prolonging the lawsuit. "We're in a position where we just can't continue to fight this distraction," he said.