Calif. School District Drops Policy Discriminating Against Religious Groups
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
July 12, 2005
(AgapePress) - A California school district has repealed an unconstitutional policy that had forced student-led Christian clubs to stop meeting in several area schools.Late last year, when Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) of Butte-Tehama-Glenn asked officials in the Chico Unified School District for permission to hold a Good News Club for elementary school students after hours, the Christian organization was told it could use school facilities for club meetings, but that it would have to pay higher fees than secular groups paid for the same access.
The Good News Club requested a fee waiver. However, the Chico Unified officials refused to grant it, saying the district policy required that religious groups be charged for use of the school facilities, even though the same policy exempted secular groups from paying usage fees. The local CEF chapter advised the school district of Supreme Court and federal precedents recognizing the Christian clubs' equal access rights. Nevertheless, the district officials refused to listen and insisted on payment.
Under protest, CEF paid the fees. But due to a limited budget, the Christian organization had to discontinue Good News Club meetings in a number of schools. However, in April 2005 the non-profit legal group Liberty Counsel filed a federal lawsuit on CEF's behalf, challenging the school district's discriminatory practice of charging higher fees to religious groups.
Erik Stanley | |
Liberty Counsel attorney Erik Stanley says the district officials have repealed the policy as a result of the legal action. "The school district agreed with our lawsuit and voted to allow CEF to have free use of school facilities," he says. "Now CEF is going to be able to hold its Good News Clubs in the elementary school in the Chico Unified School District."Stanley believes the school officials settled because they eventually recognized that the district's former facilities use policy violated the law. "I think the school district realized that its legal position was untenable," he says. "The concept of equal access is very simple: equal access means equal treatment. You have to treat CEF and other religious groups on the same terms and conditions and give them equal treatment with secular groups like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and 4-H, and all of these other groups."
Mathew Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, says the legal group is pleased that the Chico Unified School District has repealed its unconstitutional policy. "It is unfortunate," he adds, that it took a federal lawsuit to get the attention of the school officials.
Staver points out that Good News Clubs have a proven track record of providing an inspirational and positive environment for young people. The Liberty Counsel spokesman says every elementary school in America ought to have a Good News Club.
