San Diego School District Settles CEF Suit, Repeals Discriminatory Fee Policy
by Allie Martin
January 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A court-approved settlement has opened the door for a student-led Bible club in the San Diego City Schools (SDCS), the second largest school district in California. Federal Judge Irma Gonzales has approved the settlement between the school district and Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), the group that sponsors Good News Clubs.CEF's Good News Clubs are religious, after-school clubs for elementary school children from ages five to twelve, in which the kids have an opportunity to learn about the Bible through stories, songs, games and other youth-oriented activities. Although these Christian clubs have faced court challenges before, they have on more than one occasion been ruled constitutional and lawful to be conducted on public school campuses immediately after school, and the clubs have enjoyed widespread popularity with children, parents and others in many communities.
The settlement agreement with the San Diego school district means a partial end to a lawsuit filed by Liberty Counsel, a Florida-based, pro-family legal defense organization, on behalf of CEF, which sought equal access to district facilities for after-school Good News Club meetings.
Under the SDCS policy, groups serving district youth were allowed to use the schools' facilities free of charge.
Mat Staver | |
However, when CEF applied to use the school facilities, district officials insisted the club pay a "fair rental value" fee because it classified the Christian organization as a "church conducting religious services." But Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver says school districts must, by law, treat all community organizations fairly and equally.Prior to the lawsuit, Staver notes, the San Diego City Schools allowed secular organizations and groups to use District facilities free of charge while charging Child Evangelism Fellowship for the same use, simply because the group is religious. "Not only did [SDCS officials] charge them," he adds, "but they began to escalate the rent so that each year it became even more and more expensive, to the point where Child Evangelism Fellowship had to stop their Good News Clubs on campus."
The Liberty Counsel spokesman says religious expression is Americans' "preeminent freedom," and that the District was not only treating the Christian organization unfairly, but was discouraging a program it should have sought to encourage. From 1999 to 2005, the district increased the amount CEF was charged to use the school facilities, until the fees became so cost prohibitive the club meetings had to be discontinued.
Staver feels SDCS should have done just the opposite of what it did. "I believe that every elementary school ought to welcome Good News Clubs," he asserts. "Parents appreciate them, children love them, and the First Amendment clearly protects them. The First Amendment requires that similar groups be provided with equal treatment, even if they're religious. Religious speech clearly is not a disability."
Liberty Counsel continued its litigation against the San Diego City Schools, and Staver says, "finally, they began to see that they were wading in unconstitutional water." The court-approved settlement agreement reached between CEF and SDCS repeals the former discriminatory policy and implements a new one, which provides CEF with free and equal access to District facilities.
In 2003, Liberty Counsel won a similar suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest school district in California. And in another of the pro-family legal group's cases the following year, a federal court of appeals ruled that public school teachers and staff may conduct Good News Club meetings on campus immediately after the last bell.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
