Public school board trustees have narrowly voted to stop distributing Bibles to fifth grade students.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board trustees voted 6-4 Monday night to discontinue the program that gives Gideon New Testaments to students in most of the board's elementary schools.

Under the program, consent forms are sent home to parents. If the parent signs, the student is given a Bible.

Director John Malloy advised that if the board wants to continue that, it should distribute texts representing all religions.

"It needs the second part of the puzzle that we're not doing now," he said.

The issue inspired more than an hour of debate.

Student trustees Judy Shen and Jacqueline Janus liked the idea of distributing materials for all religions. Trustee Todd White said it was a "media-made issue" that didn't need to be fixed right now.

"We're reacting to what I'd call a non-issue."

Ancaster trustee Alex Johnstone said she didn't want teachers to spend time distributing religious material, and chair Tim Simmons said it is not the mandate of a public school board.

The duty belongs to churches, he said.

"If we were to go in that direction, we'd be a very different organization. We wouldn't be a public school board anymore."

Malloy brought the issue to the board after it was debated in other areas of the province. Some trustees thought the practice had stopped years ago, he said.

The issue went to the board's interfaith advisory committee, who discussed it twice before six of its 13 members voted in favour of keeping Bible distribution. Seven of the committee's members are Christian.

The board also got a legal opinion, which said that the distribution of non-instructional faith material doesn't directly conflict with the Education Act, but does open the board to accusations of discrimination.

The Bible will continue to be available in school libraries, as will books about other religions.