Charlotte County, VA (CBS) — A Bible verse on a memorial bench honoring a Charlotte County, Virginia teen who passed away last year now has to be taken off.
Colton Osborne died tragically last year during an ATV accident and the community came together to honor his memory with a bench at Randolph Henry High School.
Osborne is remembered for his love of baseball, that’s why the bench was placed next to the baseball field and reads “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – Philippians 4:13.”
The Charlotte County School Board said the Bible verse is not legally compliant. That’s why the school system worked with their attorney to come up with a policy on how to handle them.
Leonard says that they found that the memorial bench is not legally compliant because of the Bible verse. Leonard went on to say that it was a community idea and effort to place the bench on school property, and they installed it last spring when the school held a memorial service during a baseball game and dedicated the bench in Osborne’s memory.
They’ve had no complaints about the Bible verse, but Leonard says they need to follow the law.
The school system said it’s working with the family to come up with something different, like a different quote, wording, or something else that was special to Colton to replace the Bible verse.
The school system will also be responsible to pay for the changes.