School District Sued After Charging Bible Club Unfairly for Access
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
May 17, 2005
(AgapePress) - A sponsor of after-school Bible clubs for public schools has filed a lawsuit against one California school district in an effort to stop what an attorney with Liberty Counsel contends are discriminatory access fees.In November, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) of Butte-Tehama-Glenn submitted a request to the Chico Unified School District to use district property to hold a Good News Club after school hours. District officials told the Christian group the Bible club would have to pay to use the district facilities, even though organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the YMCA, and 4-H Clubs were allowed to use school facilities for free.
According to the district's school board and administrative policies, officially recognized non-district organizations that do not collect a fee from participants are entitled to use district facilities at no charge. However, when CEF applied to use the school facilities, district officials insisted that the Bible club sponsor pay "direct costs" because it is a religious organization.
CEF director Joe Stevens provided the Chico Unified School District with information citing cases in which the Supreme Court ruled that Good News Clubs must be given access to school facilities on the same terms and conditions as nonreligious civic organizations, such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America groups. Nevertheless, the school officials refused to grant a fee waiver to the Good News Club and claimed that the district was required by California law to charge the fee because of the religious nature of the club.
Mat Staver | |
Attorney Mat Staver is president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, the legal group that is representing CEF. He says the Chico district's policy is unconstitutional, and a number of federal court rulings have made this clear, but the school officials are being intractable."Despite the fact that we've tried to educate this school district with all of the applicable law," Staver points out, "this district has taken the unbelievable position that it is required to discriminate against the Good News Clubs -- not that it just can but that it is required to -- because to treat it equally, they say, would be to promote religion."
However, the legal defense organization spokesman contends that the district's current position is "absolutely ludicrous." That is why, he says, a federal lawsuit has been filed "asking the court to immediately enjoin and to stop this discriminatory practice" and "to allow the Good News Clubs to meet on an equal basis as the secular clubs."
And that means equal in everything, Staver asserts. "When the secular clubs don't have to pay a fee, that means the Good News Clubs or any other Christian clubs don't have to pay a fee either," he says. "Whether the school bans a group from accessing its facilities because of its religious viewpoint or places a financial barrier on the group based on its religious viewpoint, the outcome is the same -- the Constitution has been violated."
The head of Liberty Counsel notes that in 2003, his organization represented a CEF group in a similar lawsuit against another California school district. In that case, Child Evangelism Fellowship of San Fernando Valley v. Los Angeles Unified School District, the federal court ruled that a public school may not charge discriminatory fees to religious clubs. In CEF's successful suit against the L.A. school officials, the attorney says the court rejected the very same arguments now being raised by the Chico Unified School District.
The Chico officials' continued adherence to its unlawful policy is "astounding," Staver notes, especially in light of the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has said prohibiting Christian groups from using public school facilities when secular groups are allowed to do so is unconstitutional. Clearly, he says, "imposing a financial barrier" on a Christian club's access to public property based on the group's religious viewpoint violates the First Amendment.
