Local

Group rallies to keep Ten Commandments monument at school

CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — A Connellsville church has volunteered to display a monument of the Ten Commandments currently outside a junior high school.

The Connellsville Church of God said it would prominently display the 5-foot monument and may light it up at night if the school turns it over.

The monument is currently located outside the Connellsville Area Junior High School. A student's parent and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State have each asked the district to take down the monument.

School board President Jon Detwiler told Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE that the church will get the monument pending board approval.

A group of people who want to keep the monument at the school rallied Monday night to voice their opinion.

“It’s terrible somebody wants to move it,” Myra Holden said.

The marble slab was donated in 1957 and placed outside what was then the high school. But the monument is now near a staff parking lot and not prominently displayed.

School board members have not commented on the situation.