School board approves state-approved Ten Commandments poster designs for classrooms

The Calcasieu Parish School Board voted March 10 to accept staff's recommendation that donated Ten Commandments posters be posted in classrooms using versions 2, 3 and 4 from the list of approved designs.

The board accepted the guidance from the attorney general's office, which staff summarized as advising schools to place displays on a classroom wall other than behind a teacher's desk or podium and to display them alongside other historical or civic materials to avoid attribution to an individual teacher. "There was a law recently, state law that said we have to post, 10 commandments in the classroom," the superintendent said when explaining the recommendation. Staff added that version 1 was seen as "a little bit political," and recommended versions 2, 3 and 4 to avoid potential confusion.

Board members moved and seconded the recommendation and, after brief discussion and a roll call, the chair called for the vote. The chair reported the motion carried by voice vote. The action formalizes the district's plan to accept donated posters and to follow the attorney-general's placement guidance.

The board did not adopt additional written placement rules at the meeting; staff said the district would follow the attorney-general guidance and display the posters alongside other educational materials such as the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence. The board did not record any formal objections beyond a short discussion about which poster versions to use.

The item was part of routine agenda business; next procedural steps will be handled by district staff coordinating donations and placement in classrooms.