GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) – A federal court in Virginia is considering a challenge to a Greenville County elementary school’s graduation ceremony at a Christian university.
The Greenville News reported a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday.
A lawsuit was filed in 2013 by the American Humanist Association on behalf of a fifth-grade student at Mountain View Elementary School in Taylors. The lawsuit contends the school improperly holds its graduation at Baptist-affiliated North Greenville University in Tigerville.
The lawsuit contends the location of the graduation ceremony violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
School district spokeswoman Beth Brotherton says the ceremony is held at North Greenville because the elementary school cannot accommodate the more than 1,000 people who attend the ceremonies.