A few parents complained -- and the American Civil Liberties Union contacted the school district -- after the Gideons began their latest Bible giveaway.

The "passive distribution" of faith texts has been ruled constitutional, but a parent in Johnston and an ACLU representative said the Gideons might have broken one or more rules.

Dr. Ed Croom, superintendent of Johnston schools, said that Bibles and other faith texts can go only to students in eighth grade or higher and that representatives can not "actively" hand them out. In other words, the Gideons and others are not allowed to verbally or physically offer their books to students. They are expected to stand beside the tables holding their texts, only answering questions when asked.

"It's strictly, completely voluntary," Croom said, adding that the Gideons have come to Johnston County schools for many years. No school board policy governs the practice; the superintendent instead makes the call.

A parent who contacted The Herald said her son got a Bible at Clayton Middle School. In an e-mail, the mother wrote that a man at the Bible table at Clayton Middle School said to her son: "Hey, are you in eighth grade? Come take a Bible." The woman requested anonymity, saying she was a Christian who was afraid of how her friends and neighbors would react to her criticism.

Katy Parker, legal director for the ACLU, said a 1998 federal court ruling would make such an incident unconstitutional. She pointed to Peck vs. Upshur County Board of Education, in which federal judges ruled that the display of religious materials in elementary schools was unconstitutional.

In North Carolina, eighth grade is still elementary school, Parker argued in a letter to James Lawrence, attorney for Johnston County schools. She cited General Statute 115C-75, which says that any school that "includes all or part of the first through eighth grade" is an elementary school.

Croom said he believed that case pertained only to students in kindergarten through seventh grade. "It's got to be eighth-graders or older," he said.

The school district is investigating the matter, Croom said. He added that any other religious group would be allowed to passively distribute its books.

Jerry Burden, executive director of The Gideons International, said the group strives to follow all laws and rules.

"We follow guidelines that are set forward by the school and/or the legal guidelines set by the courts or through the legislature," he said in a phone interview. "We don't do anything other than what we are allowed to do."