WINDHAM, N.H. – The Windham, New Hampshire school board members wrestled with an apparently controversial topic at a recent meeting: Whether or not to accept free pocket Constitutions to distribute to students.

After a see saw discussion, in which board members voted against the move before eventually accepting copies of the founding document, district officials seemed dumbfounded about whether giving students copies was the right thing to do, the Union Leader reports.

“It seems like they’re not really standing behind this,” said Webster resident Terry Cox, who wasn’t very impressed by three board members who initially voted against the idea. “These three struggled with how to distribute these booklets once they accepted them and seemed to fear what would happen if teachers personally gave them out.”

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Last year Windham resident John Grieco donated 2,841 pocket-sized copies of the Constitution to the school district, one for each child, and wanted to do the same this year. When he contacted district officials, district curriculum coordinator Kori Becht turned away the donation and “told me that they already had the resources and materials they needed,” Grieco told the news site.

So the Hampstead resident, who has distributed nearly 20,000 copies of the Constitution in recent years, took his case to the school board Sept. 16, where superintendent Winfried Feneberg told board members the district already had “adequate materials” for an upcoming Constitution Day.

Several board members, however, thought it would be a good thing to pass out the actual, full Constitution to students, especially since copies were provided for free. The board took a vote, and the motion to accept the Constitutions failed when three board members opposed, according to the Union Leader.

Later in the meeting, after discussing the issue further, the board accepted the Constitutions by an unanimous vote, although they left the decision on whether to pass them along to students to individual school leaders.

Feneberg told the Union Leader the Constitutions have only been given to elementary students for Constitution Day last week.

“What needs to be clear here is the Constitution is getting covered,” he declared. “This is something we look into each year, just as we would any other curriculum topic.”

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David Chapman was clearly offended by the superintendent’s remarks.

“The US Constitution is hardly just ‘any other curriculum topic,’” he posted to the Union Leader site. “The superintendent should be ashamed of himself.”

“If you are going to live in this country and benefit from our freedom then you should have a copy of the Constitution, and read it,” Eric Boyle posted.

Others didn’t understand what the school board was so concerned about.

“Donated pocket Constitutions only save taxpayers money. It also promotes patriotism. Only in America do we struggle with that concept,” Harrison Brown wrote. “God Bless America!”

“I’m not a real smart teacher or board member, but what do they mean by ‘what would happen if teachers gave them out?’” Michael King questioned. “Is there some consequence for giving out a document that changed the world? And just who would spearhead that change? … Just who is the board so worried about?”