This article was originally published in Oklahoma Voice.

OKLAHOMA CITY — New guidance from Oklahoma City Public Schools regarding a state mandate to teach the Bible requires teachers to reference the text’s historical and literary aspects only in the “specific instances” that state academic standards allow.

In issuing the guidance on Wednesday, Superintendent Jamie Polk also advised teachers to document detailed lesson plans and not to stray from district-approved curriculum materials.

The Bible must “not be used for preaching or indoctrination,” and Oklahoma City schools, the state’s second largest district, must maintain “absolute neutrality and objectivity” when referencing it, Polk said.

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“Our goal is to provide a balanced, objective approach that respects diverse beliefs by adhering to both state requirements and federal laws and regulations,” she said in a memo to teachers, who returned to work this week.

Last month, state Superintendent Ryan Walters ordered all Oklahoma districts to teach about the Bible’s historic and literary value starting in the 2024-25 school year.

His mandate also includes a provision that all classrooms keep a copy of the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

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Walters’ order aims to add extra guidelines to the state academic standards, which are a lengthy list of topics and concepts that Oklahoma public schools must teach.

The Bible is not mentioned in the existing standards for social studies, English language arts, fine arts or music — the subject areas Walters identified for Bible instruction. However, the social studies standards require schools to teach about major world religions and the role of religion in the establishment of some American colonial governments.

Walters’ guidelines seek a much deeper exploration of the Bible, including analysis of biblical passages, instruction on its influence in Western civilization and American history, and references to it in literature and fine arts.

“To ensure our students are equipped to understand and contextualize our nation, its culture, and its founding, every student in Oklahoma will be taught the Bible in its historical, cultural, and literary context,” Walters said in a statement on the mandate.

The order quickly became controversial over concerns for church-state separation and local control of school curriculum. Leaders of multiple school districts have since said their districts won’t implement more instruction on the Bible outside of what state standards already require.

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Polk said her guidance is meant to give legal cover to teachers in case one of them faces a complaint.

“We have to protect teachers, and when this came out, one of the first things we did was we rallied together as a team, and I had the curriculum department at the table and I had the legal department at the table,” Polk said in an interview with Oklahoma Voice. “I asked the legal team, ‘If one of our teachers got in trouble because of the Bible, what would you need to defend them?’”

Documenting lesson plans, including the way teachers present the information to students, will be “essential,” she said.

The Center for Education Law, an Oklahoma City law firm that provides legal counsel to OKCPS, raised doubts over the viability of Walters’ Bible mandate. Any attempt by the state to direct how Oklahoma schools teach academic standards would infringe on local district authority and is “invalid under Oklahoma law,” the law firm wrote in a letter to schools.

Polk’s statement to teachers on Wednesday also referenced another, similarly polarizing announcement from Walters asking schools to provide a cost analysis of educating undocumented students. Walters said his administration would release guidance on the matter in the coming weeks.

Families don’t have to provide information on their immigration status to enroll their children in public schools. The Oklahoma City district doesn’t ask for these details, and Polk said it doesn’t plan to start doing so.

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The recent orders created a tricky start this summer to Polk’s tenure as Oklahoma City’s superintendent, but after 36 years in education, she said she knows “there’s always something” that will stir debate.

She said she still aims to maintain a working relationship with the state Education Department to ensure students “receive what they need in order for them to have a diploma in one hand and a plan in the other as they walk across the stage.”

“The topics change, but there’s always conflict,” Polk said while looking back on the national controversies that erupted over past decades. “But as Americans, how do we navigate problems?

“How do we come to the table then and let me hear your voice so I can accept your viewpoint, but you too then get to hear my voice?”

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and X.