GOSHEN, Ind. — A federal judge in Indiana this week ruled that the live Nativity scene long presented as the finale to a local high school’s annual Christmas program violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division, made its final decision Monday, striking down Concord High School’s annual nativity performance as it has existed for the past 45 years. The ruling tentatively ends a contentious legal battle that began in September 2015.

The challenge began then, when the Freedom from Religion Foundation received a complaint from the family of a Concord student who performed in the holiday show in previous years. Students acted out the parts of Mary, Joseph and others from the biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In response to the lawsuit, the school corporation had replaced student actors with mannequins for the shows over the past two years.

The court issued a declaratory judgment that the Nativity performances in 2014 and the years prior were unconstitutional, according to court documents. The ruling also stated that if the school district returns to the live Nativity in the future, “the plaintiffs can swiftly return to court and seek appropriate relief.”

The court awarded nominal damages of $1 to each of the plaintiffs — one student, two parents and the FFRF — for each exposure to the 2014 show. The student received a total of $7.

A request by the plaintiffs for a permanent injunction was denied.

Ryan Jayne, an attorney with the Freedom From Religion Foundation who worked closely on the case, spoke glowingly of the court’s findings Tuesday afternoon.

“We’re thrilled, but not surprised at this because this is basically the court confirming what our original letter said, which was that the long-standing version of the school’s performance was unconstitutional,” Jayne told the Goshen, Indiana News. “I would add that the school could have easily avoided this lawsuit by removing the religious aspects of its program when we first pointed out the problem.”

Concord Community Schools Superintendent John Trout said he learned about the ruling Monday from school board attorney Tim Shelly and then shared the information with board members Tuesday morning.

“It was pretty standard, I thought,” Trout said of the ruling. “There was nothing in there that surprised me. We believe it’s been pretty consistent with other rulings up to this point.”

“This was a clear-cut case of a school district imposing Christianity on the student body,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a press release. “The court ruled wisely in adhering to the laws of the land. We thank our brave local plaintiffs for fighting to remedy this egregious violation.”

For Concord High School students and staff, the ruling means the school corporation’s plans to move forward with the Christmas Spectacular program as it was revised two years ago will remain intact. Prior to the change, the nearly half-century tradition of the school’s Performing Arts Department included the annual performances of the “Christmas Spectacular.” One element of the performance that had remained largely unchanged over the years was a show-closing live Nativity scene performed by students depicting the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Our plan based on the ruling is that we continue with the Christmas Spectacular as we’ve done the last two years,” Trout said. “Nothing in the ruling would prohibit us from continuing forward as we have been the last two years.”

The Goshen, Indiana News contributed to this story.