Source: The Hook

http://readthehook.com/stories/2004/05/28/coverBibleSchoolsHowWaynes.html

On May 27, 2004 The Hook reported, "Children in grades two through four at Waynesboro's four public elementary schools board the blue-and-white 'Bible bus' 12 times a year to head over to Glovier Methodist Church to learn about the Bible. 'Protestant-- basically Christian-- history' is how Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Lowell Lemons describes the classes. 'They [supporters of the program] have a stated mission to provide religious education to children whose families are not churchgoers,' he says. And he stresses that the program is optional: 'Students and their families can opt out.' ... Council figures show that about 13,000 children attend WRE classes in Virginia. Nationally, 250,000 children in 32 states are released from public schools for Bible class-- even on the Left Coast, where California has one of the largest programs in places like Orange County. At the beginning of the school year, Waynesboro parents receive permission slips to sign up their second, third, and fourth graders for Bible studies. Area churches fund the program's $50,000 annual budget."