High Grades for These Schools : Officials step nimbly in dealing with issues of religious, gay clubs

In a nation struggling to come terms with its diversity and strike the right balance on religious freedom, it is perhaps inevitable that public school campuses would become volatile pressure points. The good news from two current local disputes is that administrators can exercise sound judgment while walking the difficult line that various laws and court rulings require.

At Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, school officials are under pressure from students who, having won the right to hold their religious meetings on campus, now want more--recognition as an officially sanctioned school organization. And at Fountain Valley High School, administrators have come to the defense of a newly formed group of gay students who have come under attack from some intolerant classmates.

The Fullerton case is a reminder that school administrators for years have been trying to reconcile the constitutional wall of separation between church and state with the legitimate interests of students to express religious beliefs in school-based groups. The pressure increased with the 1984 Equal Access Act and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling saying that schools permitting extracurricular activities on campus must, as part of that, allow religious students to meet for prayer.

The Christian Club in Fullerton takes the issue a step further, with members lobbying for outright school endorsement. Fullerton Joint Union High School District officials wisely balked at this bid. They have recognized, through a district policy withholding sponsorship from religious or political groups, that a school system can allow students to meet without also appearing to sponsor or endorse their activities.

Fountain Valley’s case is simply an issue of protecting and defending the right to use school facilities in the face of hostility. The administration properly cracked down on students trying to drum the gay support group off campus by distributing flyers.

In both cases, officials managed the difficult task of protecting rights without tilting unfairly toward particular student positions.