City asks Christian schools to repaint plow art

Two private schools in Sioux Falls have been asked to repaint city-owned snow plow blades after a group complained about student artwork with Christian themes.

Students at Lutheran High School of Sioux Falls spent time and effort designing the plow blade they submitted for the city's Paint the Plows event, Principal Derek Bult said. Painted red and adorned with the phrase "Jesus Christ" in white, the religious symbolism was hard to miss.

Bult said he was upset this week when he learned students had to redecorate the blade or it wouldn't be used on a city plow.

"I felt bad for them," Bult said.

Paint the Plows is a great event that highlights the fine arts, but religious messaging doesn't belong on publicly owned vehicles — lawn mower, police car or snow plow, said Eric Novotny, a board member for the Siouxland Freethinkers.

Novotny contacted the city attorney's office after seeing Lutheran High School's "Jesus Christ" plow blade, and another painted with the phrase: "Happy birthday Jesus." The latter was submitted by elementary and middle school-aged students at Sioux Falls Lutheran School.

Both were on display at The Empire Mall, where Novotny first noticed the Christian themes.

"That was a clear endorsement of religion, and it was on city property," Novotny said.

It is the first time in the program's five-year history the city has received a complaint from Novotny's organization about religious imagery on the student-decorated plows, according to a city statement.

But it's not the first time religious themes were used. Sioux Falls Lutheran School's entry last year included the phrase: "Jesus loves you snow much." Lutheran High School's plow blade last year read: "Jesus is our Superman!"

Expressing faith is part of the lesson plan at Sioux Falls Lutheran, but students also are taught to respect other people's opinions, assistant principal Sarah Sailer said.

"Can't we just have a conversation?" Sailer said.

Arguments from both sides rely on the First Amendment. Bult wonders about his students' right to free speech. Novotny holds up the implied church-and-state separation.

The schools' rights to free speech are muddied because the words are displayed on public property, according to the ACLU of South Dakota.

"When the speech is displayed on public equipment that will be in use and could be viewed by the public as a state-sponsored message, the speech then becomes problematic," executive director Heather Smith said in an email.

Students could have had two more weeks to come up with a new design, but Bult said he didn't want to waste more of the art teacher's time. He told a representative from the city to paint over the students' artwork, Bult said.

Sioux Falls Lutheran also won't take the city up on its offer, Sailer said.

"Right now, we just don't have the time," Sailer said.

Siouxland Freethinkers is "a community of atheists, agnostics, humanists and skeptics," according to the group's website. It has roughly 75 members in the region who attend meetings and an online following of about 650 people, organization President Amanda Novotny said.

The group supported Eric Novotny's complaint, which prompted city officials to contact both schools.

Bult said he was told the city wouldn't use them because of the risk of litigation and legal fees. A statement from the city offers almost no insight into plans for the plow blades: "discussions were held on whether the schools would be interested in creating different artwork."

Eric Novotny did not threaten to sue.

"There was no talk of any lawsuit at all," Novotny said. "Not from us."

Some residents might be upset about a protest of Christian-themed art on city snow plows, but all they need to do is consider a role reversal, Amanda Novotny said.

"It would have no business on a plow, I would never do it, but if I painted a plow that said 'There is no god,' I think people would be very, very upset about that," she said.

A written statement from Sioux Falls city officials:

"The City provided an open opportunity for students at each school within our community, both public and private, and other youth agencies to participate in the Fifth Annual Paint the Plows program. Each school was loaned a City plow for students to choose the content and create artwork to be exhibited on the plows. Each school is recognized on their respective plow.

For the first time in the program's history, the City received an informal complaint from the Siouxland Freethinkers about the religious content of student artwork designed by Sioux Falls Lutheran Elementary School and Sioux Falls Lutheran High School, claiming that it violated the Establishment Clause.

The City contacted the respective schools about the informal complaint, and discussions were held on whether the schools would be interested in creating different artwork. The High School has agreed that their artwork may be repainted, and the City is awaiting a response from the Elementary School.

The City respects the various views and is evaluating procedures and guidelines for the Paint the Plows program going forward. All the parties appear interested in discussing the concerns raised and developing a process that would allow the Program to display student artwork in the future."