A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) to remove a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of a Pennsylvania high school.

U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry wrote the plaintiffs had “failed to establish that they were forced into ‘direct, regular, and unwelcome contact’ with the Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of Valley High School.”

The judge also said that the female plaintiffs in the case, Marie Schaub and her unidentified daughter, had developed their sense of “offense” to the monument “only after FFRF became involved in this dispute.”

The FFRF demanded the monument’s removal in March 2012 and sued that September when the school did not bow to their demand.

The court noted that the daughter in the case never actually attended that high school and that she testified in court when she saw the monument she didn’t pay much attention to it.  The court also noted that while the mother claimed she pulled her daughter from the district to avoid the monument, the change happened after the lawsuit was filed.

“We’re pleased with the decision by the court,” New Kensington-Arnold School District Superintendent John Pallone said. “We’re glad to see this issue is hopefully behind us, and we can move on with our mission of educating children.”