Guidelines OKd for Teaching Religion

Pursuing a policy to allow teaching about religion in the city’s nine schools, the Moorpark school board has approved guidelines for how the policy would work.

The guidelines lay out the distinction between teaching about religion and proselytizing, emphasizing that public schools cannot be advocates of a particular religious point of view. But while recognizing those conditions teachers should be able to discuss and teach about such things as how a particular religion played a role in history.

Board member David Pollock, who sponsored the initial resolution in February, said, “Teachers will have to exercise good judgment.”

With some wording in the resolution to recognize the moral convictions of nonbelievers, the Moorpark Unified School District board unanimously approved a measure at the end of February committing their district to teaching students about religion.

District officials emphasized that the resolution does not mean that teachers in the district will begin preaching to students, it just means that teachers in Moorpark schools won’t shy away from discussing religion.

The guidelines approved by the school board Tuesday night will be circulated to teachers throughout the district.

“This is an evolving policy,” said Assistant Supt. Frank DePasquale, who helped draft the guidelines.