Ohio Mother Says Her Kids Were Kicked Out of School For Being Born Out of Wedlock

Akron, OH — Summer Grant, a 30-year old single mother of two, was shocked to learn that a pastor expelled her daughters from the Christian school they were attending because they have different fathers, she is unmarried and is “living in sin.” That is regardless of her daughters’ good standing and a very bad timing — there’s only less than a month left before the school year ends.

Grant said her daughters, Summara-Rayn, who is a 10-year old 4th grader, and Summaia, who is a 7-year old 2nd grader, went to Chapel Hill Christian School for years until the school’s administrator Pastor John Wilson banned her children.

In a recorded conversation, Wilson told Grant that there are many reasons but it was mostly because she “committed adultery” which is against the school’s covenant. He condemned her for having kids with different fathers and living with a man whom she wasn’t married.

Grant said the pastor started harassing her and her daughters over a year ago, questioning her relationships and giving her recommendations to improve her life. In one instance, Grant went to Wilson to discuss her daughters’ scholarships but Wilson allegedly changed the topic to her personal life. He then proceeded to talk about “how we can get your household to live biblically moral.”

“It wasn’t about whether they had their scholarship in place,” Grant tearfully told the Akron Beacon Journal. “It was more or less about me just not living right… It was an uncomfortable conversation, but I sat through it because I really wanted my children to go to the school.”

Grant believed things escalated last week when Summara got into a communication misunderstanding with her school bus driver. The following day, Grant talked to the bus driver, but he was being rude and even called the cops. The day after that, she received a call from Wilson saying that day would be her daughters’ last day at the school.

When Grant asked for the reason, Wilson allegedly told her that the “bus incident just shed a light on many problems that we have with you” but the main reason was that she is committing adultery, which is against the Ten Commandments. He also reportedly told her that while it is not required for the students’ parents to be married and have kids by the same man, it is a “strong recommendation.”

In a statement, Wilson said that the “dismissal was necessary in order to protect the safety of our school children and their families.” He also stated about the written agreement to reflect a commitment to Christ that parents sign and that Grant was rather “inconsistent” with the agreement.

Grant expressed her disappointment about the incident through a Facebook post and said that despite her relationships, she is a “really good mother.” She was also wondering why she was being singled out even though there are other parents of students who aren’t married.

Moreover, Grant is now considering homeschooling her daughters for the rest of the 30 days left of the school year. She is afraid they could lose their opportunity for private school scholarships but it is more important for her that her kids wouldn’t be in an environment where “they’re honestly not welcome in.”

“I never want to dismember a school or tear a school down or anything like that, but I don’t believe that this is right, and I feel like this man needs to know that he’s wrong.”