(ONN) – The State of Ohio may have violated the separation of church and state by using public money to build or fix religious schools.

The First Amendment established the separation of church and state in the United States.

Now, Americans United for Separation of Church and State are investigating the state of Ohio.

The group alleges that the state misused public funds from its capital budget to build or remodel parochial and private schools.

In Richland County, Mansfield Christian received the largest grant of $1.5 million.

Nine other schools received a total of over 4 million dollars.

The group says that public funds belong in public schools and cites many projects in need of funding.