School district nixes religious released time program in response to pastor's Facebook post: lawsuit

A Georgia school district is facing a lawsuit for allegedly abolishing a released-time program for religious education because of a Facebook post by the pastor who oversees the off-campus religious education. 

In a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia last Friday, the Sweet Onion Christian Learning Center and its director, Gady Youmans, alleged that Vidalia City Schools in Vidalia, Georgia, as well as its superintendent and school board, engaged in unconstitutional behavior by terminating its relationship with the organization after Youmans spoke out against a proposed tax increase in the school district. 

For more than a decade, Sweet Onion has provided voluntary off-campus religious instruction to the district’s students during the school day. Students have had the option to take five classes offered by the organization, which count toward high school graduation requirements. 

Sweet Onion’s relationship with Vidalia City Schools reportedly deteriorated following a Sept. 12, 2025, Facebook post by Youmans in response to a proposed tax increase in the school district. Assuring the school board “you don’t need more money,” Youmans cited testimony from one of his friends who works as a teacher in the school district, asserting that “The BoE office keeps hiring admins we don’t need with near $100,000 salaries,” and called on the school district to let them go rather than raise taxes. 

In a second Facebook post published that same day, Youmans lamented that the 20 highest-paid employees in the school district made a combined $2.2 million as he continued to express concerns about the tax increase.

Responding to a comment on the post, Youmans noted that students have told him, “We have to teach ourselves in several classes.” Five months later, Vidalia City Schools Superintendent Sandy Reid informed Youmans that the school district would no longer offer the released-time program beginning in the next school year. 

After Youmans requested a meeting with Reid, she informed him that complaints about the Facebook posts played a role in her decision. According to the minutes of the school board’s Nov. 11, 2025, work session, Reid “noted that parents have previously expressed concerns about the course content, specifically a perception that some instruction reflected a particular interpretation of the Bible rather than presenting information in a neutral or well-balanced manner.”

“A few parents have chosen to remove their children from the class for this reason, though the majority of enrolled students complete the course,” the minutes added. “She also reported a recurring concern related to the instructor, who has publicly expressed criticism of public schools and has posted negative comments about the district and staff on social media. The Board briefly reviewed these issues and inquired about possible options for the course.” 

According to the complaint, only one parent removed their child from the released-time program, which occurred in nearby Montgomery County, Georgia, not in the Vidalia City School District, and was due to a parent objecting to the center not exclusively using the King James Version of the Bible.

The center no longer offers the released-time program to students in Montgomery County and only has a working relationship with the Vidalia City School District. 

The lawsuit alleges that, in addition to harming students by depriving them of the opportunity to receive religious education during the school day, the rescission of the released-time program threatens Youmans’ livelihood because the sole purpose of the center is to provide such instruction, and donors have opted to cut ties with the organization following news that the program will no longer continue. 

The complaint maintains that the school district’s actions, cutting ties with Sweet Onion, constituted content and viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as unconstitutional retaliation and a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. It also claims that the school district violated the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The lawsuit asks for a decision ruling that the school district’s decision to cut ties with the center was unconstitutional, ensuring that the released-time program can continue and providing nominal damages and attorneys’ fees.

Alliance Defending Freedom, the nonprofit legal organization that has won First Amendment cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, is representing Youmans and the center.

“Every American has the right to publicly criticize the government — that’s what makes the First Amendment guarantee of free speech so special and the envy of the world,” said ADF Legal Counsel Mercer Martin in a statement.

“Vidalia city schools can’t punish Rev. Youmans — or his ministry providing high school students with free religious education — for simply sharing his opinion of a proposed tax hike. We are urging the court to reinstate Sweet Onion’s released-time program and restore Rev. Youmans’ constitutional freedoms.” 

The Vidalia City Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday included an executive session to discuss this issue.