California —

FFRF was happy to learn that the New Haven Unified School District in Union City, Calif., was willing to take action to stop an employee from including religious text in their email signature.

FFRF learned that the district’s substitute placement clerk sent an email with a religious signature to a substitute teacher applicant. The email signature quotes Hebrews 6:19, which reads “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure, which enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.”

“When a district employee includes biblical scripture in their official email signature, it sends the message to all recipients that the district prefers religion over nonreligion, and Christianity over all other faiths,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district.

District Superintendent John Thompson agreed with FFRF, and was thankful that the concern had been brought to his attention. “The employee in question has removed the content from their email signature,” Thompson wrote. Thompson also shared a district-wide communication sent by the assistant superintendent, which instructed all employees to refrain from including religious taglines, quotations, or symbols in school district emails to avoid personal religious expression from being interpreted as representing the views of the district as a whole.

The post New Haven Unified School District willing to take action to stop an employee from including religious text in their email signature. (November 2025) appeared first on Freedom From Religion Foundation.