Virginia school district shuts down schools over Arabic calligraphy lesson complaints

Schools in a central Virginia school district will be closed on Friday due to backlash against a high school world geography class assignment.

Augusta County Public Schools Superintendent Eric Bond said in a statement to the News Leader that last week a teacher gave students a sheet of paper with an Islamic statement of faith, called a shahada, written on it in Arabic calligraphy "to demonstrate the complex artistry of the written language in the Middle East." He said that the students were "asked to attempt to copy it" so they could get a sense of the "artistic complexity of the calligraphy." Bond said the students were never given an English translation or asked to "recite it or otherwise adopt or pronounce it as a personal belief."

Parent Kimberly Herndon called the lesson an "indoctrination" of Islam, and said the teacher "gave up the Lord's time. She gave it up and gave it to Mohammad." Although no specific threats were made against students or schools, the district decided to cancel Friday classes because of angry phone calls and emails about the lesson. State standards require teaching of world religions, and Bond said students in the district learn about several different faiths in addition to Islam, including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

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