A Nevada public charter school is under the microscope after a teacher refused to allow a student to reference John 3:16 in a project asking the students to describe themselves using a series of slides.

Mackenzie Frasier, a sixth-grader at Somerset Academy, is the daughter of a pastor and said she was proud of her Christian faith and its importance in her life.  She didn’t tell her parents about the incident until April when she discussed a leadership class assignment and said she was told not to use Christian references.

Her father, Pastor Tim Fraiser, wrote to the school asking for clarification on what his daughter had been told by her teacher.

“Can you please explain if this is true? Perhaps, she misunderstood you? Since I am certain you understand that this clearly infringes on my daughters/your students right to freedom of speech, I want to make sure we understand your instructions,” he wrote on April 29.

The school responded with a defense of blocking Christian expression from their school.

“When Mackenzie created the project with the expectation she would present the Biblical saying to the class, the matter became one of having a captive audience that would be subject to her religious beliefs. Had the assignment been designed to simply hand in for a grade, this would not have been an issue. Therefore, considering the circumstances of the assignment, Miss Jardine appropriately followed school law expectations by asking Mackenzie to choose an alternate quote for the presentation,” Assistant Principal Jenyan Martinez wrote.

The Liberty Institute is now involved in the situation and demanding the school allow Mackenzie’s Constitutional rights and to allow resubmission of the project with her Bible verse included in the presentation.

The charter school management company that runs Somerset Academy said they are investigating the situation.

“We consider the civil liberties of our students to be of utmost importance,” said Colin Bringhurst of Academica Nevada. “As such, we strive to comply in every way with the directives set forth by the U.S. Department of Education with regard to religious expression in public schools.”

Mackenzie told the Last Vegas Review-Journal she’s standing up for her rights to be a good example to her younger brothers.