Vanda Terrell is still getting used to saying it.

"Let's open our Bibles," the veteran Plano ISD teacher tells students daily at two public high schools in the district. And it's legal for her to do it. A new state law requires that Texas public schools incorporate Bible literacy into the curriculum.

But the law provides no specific guidelines, funding for materials or teacher training. So high schools are left scrambling to figure out what to teach and how to teach it. A handful of North Texas districts are offering an elective class, but most are choosing instead to embed Old and New Testament teachings into current classes.

STEWART F. HOUSE/Special Contributor

Veteran teacher Vanda Terrell leads a Bible in Literature class at Plano West High School. She has no curriculum guidelines but is 'driven by the connections in literature.'

Such broad parameters leave one of the most controversial topics in public schools virtually unregulated, say religious scholars and confused educators. They warn that the nebulous law may have thwarted its purpose – to examine the Bible's influence in history and literature.

"Asking a school district to teach a course or include material in a course without providing them any guidance or resources is like sending a teacher into a minefield without a map," said Mark Chancey, an associate professor of religious studies at Southern Methodist University and author of the report "Teaching the Bible in Texas Public Schools."

STEWART F. HOUSE/Special Contributor

Noelle Rogers, 17, takes a test during her Bible Literature class at Wylie High School. Wylie ISD added the course this year.

"There's an irony in this as well," he said. "Teachers have to teach without the training the law requires."

Like their counterparts at other districts, Plano school officials thought a Bible literacy class was required under the new law and started making preparations when it passed in 2007. It wasn't until the state attorney general wrote a clarification a year later that they found out the course was optional, although the lessons were necessary. And it was only recently that administrators realized they'd have to determine what that curriculum entailed.

"The Legislature implies intensive training, but we wondered if the state would fund it, and it turned out it didn't," said Lisa Thibodeaux, the Plano ISD Curriculum Coordinator for Secondary English Language Arts. "Then we wondered if it would direct the training, and it turned out it didn't."

The district decided to create a Bible as Literature course this year after about 200 students expressed interest in it. Plano ISD sent English teacher Terrell to a Bible studies training workshop at the University of Texas at Austin over the summer. The seminar, spearheaded by UT professors, was created to address concerns stemming from the law.

Only 19 teachers attended.

Legislators did create provisions to ensure that a course maintained "religious neutrality" by mandating teacher training, state-approved materials and curriculum standards considered adequate by the attorney general. But they did not specify what that training included nor did they allocate funds for it.

The state Board of Education provided little further guidance. It said the curriculum for independent studies classes in English and social studies already covered the biblical material. And Texas Education Agency officials said they did not request funding because materials and training were already covered for those two courses.

The bill's sponsor, Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, blames the education agency for the confusion surrounding the law.

"TEA had the duty to prepare teachers to teach the course, but they neglected to request funds," he said. "I assumed the funds were there."

Other states like Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee have wrestled with these issues, but they've created much clearer expectations and standards, said Steven Friesen, the UT religious studies professor who hosted this summer's Bible literacy workshop.

Districts are treading carefully.

"There's a lot of opportunity for a district to misstep," said Dennis Muizers, Lovejoy ISD's assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment. "There's quite a bit of latitude in addition to a lack of development for teachers. It's a double-edged sword."

The district offered a Bible in literature class last year, but because fewer than 15 students signed up this year, Lovejoy will not offer it.

Wylie ISD will teach the course this year for the first time. Duncanville has taught it in previous years and will continue to do so this semester.

Many North Texas schools seem to be sidestepping the issue by saying they already teach the Bible when analyzing allusions in Shakespeare or discussing ancient Mesopotamia.

Frisco ISD plans to add nuggets to its world history course this spring. Irving ISD has "beefed up" its material to meet the curriculum requirement. McKinney ISD will wait until the state offers teacher training before it establishes a course but says that religious literature is already taught in existing courses.

Dallas ISD won't offer a class either.

"The operative word in the bill is 'may,' " said district spokesman Jon Dahlander.

Sixteen students spent a recent class period with Terrell linking the Genesis story of Adam and Eve to Snow White's apple-biting fall from grace and Derek Walcott's poetic criticism on modern society.

The Plano teacher said she feels a "little bit of angst not knowing what to cover" but is "driven by the connections in literature."

That is what prompted senior Sam Winslett to take the class.

"I wanted to get a better understanding of the Bible, not just spiritually, but as a deep and meaningful text in the literary sense," he said, settling into a discussion about whether the forbidden fruit mentioned in the Bible was an apple. It wasn't specified.

"The Bible is a great literary work," he said.

Readers responded to our story online about schools incorporating new requirements on Bible literacy. A sample of their responses:

"Texas is not requiring districts to teach religion. They are requiring how religion influenced history. If parents ever read their children's history books and English books, they will see it covers all religions pertaining to that period in literature or history that is being covered. They will not be teaching psalms, they will be teaching how it influenced the times."

Posted by nutnhoney6

"I thought this is what Sunday school is for?"

Posted by Xanthippas

"I have a problem with this being a requirement. Will they be teaching the Torah, Koran and writings from other religions as well? This is a backward requirement which is trying to force a specific religious view on others. Isn't that what we are fighting against in other countries?"

Posted by racheal 64

"It is a literature class. It is required to be taught without trying to promote religion. It is one of the oldest books in existence. It is a great book for a literature class as it does contain several different types of writing and styles. Why does there have to be a question on how to teach it. Teach it the same way as you would teach The Scarlet Letter or a book of poems by Yeats."

Posted by strmfront

"This will end in lawsuits. Guaranteed. And it SHOULD. If I had a child in school, I would be suing right about now."

Posted by yupyupyup

"The naysayers are missing the point of the class, which is to introduce students to Biblical characters, places, and events so that when the students encounter allusions to such things in literature, they'll have a foundation on which to connect the allusion. It's not designed to proselytize or convert. It's not an attempt to brainwash. It's teaching the Bible as literature. That's it. Get over your paranoia."

Posted by happy in waxahachie