Buckeyes Crossed: Two School Districts Take Divergent Views of First Amendmen
by Jim Brown and Allie Martin
February 12, 2004
(AgapePress) - An Ohio school district has asked a federal appeals court for permission to give flyers promoting religious events to elementary school students.The Crestview School District is hoping the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will reverse a Toledo judge's 2002 ruling that bars teachers from passing out flyers for religious groups. The district currently allows distribution of notices to students about the activities of various non-profit groups, including 4-H, YMCA, and Little League baseball.
Although secularists claim activities such as passing out flyers that promote religious events are in violation of the so-called "separation of Church and State," Crestview Superintendent John Basinger says such activity is protected under the First Amendment. He suggests that the schools' interpretation of the U.S. Constitution is not in agreement with the 2002 court decision.
Court-Ordered Inequality for Christians
"We really felt that [court decision] forced us to discriminate against the religious groups in our community," Basinger says. He adds that the district "didn't feel that was appropriate for our community or for the mission of our school, and so we consequently appealed that to the Circuit court there in Cincinnati."
Also, the school administrator says, contrary to what opponents claim, the district disagrees that the flyer distribution represents an unconstitutional endorsement of a particular religion. Basinger insists that the district's policy is one of non-discrimination. "Previous to this, we never distinguished between whether it was religious or nonreligious," he explains. "If you were a positive group in our community and had a positive message for kids, we'd distribute your flyer."
Basinger considers the religious aspect of the current controversy a new twist. "The fact that it now has become a religion versus non-religion thing is something, quite frankly, that we hadn't even thought was an issue previous to this," he says.
According to the superintendent, the majority of families in his community hold to strong conservative values and are outraged by the earlier court-imposed censorship. A ruling from the Cincinnati-based appellate court is expected in several months.
Meanwhile, another Ohio school district is being sued by the parents of a kindergarten student who was prevented from distributing to her classmates bags of jellybeans with an attached Easter poem. According to the lawsuit, kindergartener Madison Wuebben sought permission to distribute "The Jelly Bean Prayer" along with the candy treats to her Orchard Park Elementary School classmates last year shortly before Easter.
But a teacher denied Madison's request, claiming it was against the school's policy to allow students to distribute religious literature in class. The child and her parents are being represented in their lawsuit against the school district by the Rutherford Institute, a legal group specializing in civil liberties cases.
Lawyer Makes No Beans About Believers' Rights
Rutherford Institute attorney Rita Dunaway says it is "interesting" that, in the same school that banned Madison's Jellybean Prayer, students are routinely allowed to hand out Valentine's Day cards or Halloween candy; but "when this particular student wanted to share a religious message with her classmates, she was singled out and treated differently because of that."
The attorney asserts that it is essential for believers to take action when any individual or institution tramples their freedom as U.S. citizens. "Americans -- and particularly Christians -- can't just stand by while their First Amendment rights are violated," Dunaway says.
The Wuebbens feel the school's policy of prohibiting students from distributing religious literature in the classroom violates their daughter's freedoms of speech and religion. They are asking U.S. District Judge Thomas Rose to allow Madison to distribute the candy and religious message at school. The lawsuit also requests damages in the amount of one dollar.
