Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Classroom Access for Bible Groups Considered : Religion: The Hart school district now allows only curriculum-related groups to use the sites.

After more than 200 students and parents jammed the school board meeting, officials in the William S. Hart Union High School District are considering opening classroom doors for Bible study groups to meet at lunch.

The district board is considering amending its policy that now allows only curriculum-related groups to meet in classrooms at lunch while permitting others to meet on campus after school as long as the main office is open.

More than 200 students and parents jammed Wednesday night’s school board meeting to request that Bible study groups, which now meet in outside common areas on campuses during lunchtime, be allowed to use school facilities such as classrooms or an auditorium.

The access policy is scheduled for review by the school board June 16.

Valencia resident Alan Land called the existing district policy discriminatory, saying Bible study groups are prevented from using school bulletin boards and meeting in classrooms at lunchtime while other groups such as chess and political clubs have been able to do so.

“The basis of that exclusion is the religious content of the speech,” Land said. “What the kids have been getting is hostility rather than neutrality.”

In 1984, Congress passed the Equal Access Act that establishes the opportunity for non-curriculum-related student groups to meet on school premises. It prohibits limiting access to groups based on religious, political or other speech content at meetings.

One Hart High student raised concerns Wednesday about the Bible study groups, citing the desire to keep church and state separate.

Land, who teaches constitutional law at The Master’s College, a religious college in Placerita Canyon, said a series of U. S. Supreme Court rulings give the equal access issue priority over concerns about the separation of church and state. Most significant is the June 4, 1990, ruling of Board of Education, Westside Community Schools vs. Bridget Mergens that makes the equal access policy constitutional, Land said.

District officials say the new policy will provide the necessary equal access.

“It was something that we needed to look at and we were glad they brought it to our attention,” said Sandra Loberg, school board president.

There is concern that non-school groups may want to come on campus. Both the existing and proposed access policies say a club must include only students, although infrequent adult guest speakers are allowed.

“It is clearly aimed at students who are interested in meeting to discuss student interests,” Assistant Supt. Daniel Hanigan said.

Hanigan said the modified policy would allow the board to bar an undesirable group only if other unrelated clubs are prohibited as well.