One of the most basic consequences of the separation of church and state in the context of public schools is that school officials may not endorse or promote any religion or religious beliefs to the students. This is the way it should be - who wants the government promoting a religion (possibly someone else's religion) to their children? Some school officials, however, don't quite seem to understand this.

News 14 in Charlotte, North Carolina reports:

The Cabarrus County school system is investigating whether Beth Pinto, the school’s drop-out prevention counselor, offered religious advice to a student who asked about the Bible’s teachings on homosexuality. ... Pinto is a member of First Baptist Church in Concord, and she allegedly gave the student a scripture to read.

The safest thing for the counselor to do would probably have been to tell the student to consult a member of the clergy on that. The next safest, and probably legal, course of action would be to explain that there are several different views and give a very short description of a couple. So long as several views are stated, and not discussed in great depth, there shouldn't be any problem with promotion or endorsement. Singling out a particular interpretation of the Bible, however, just isn't acceptable.

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Religion in Public Schools
• Evangelical Christianity & Homosexuality