Mission Viejo High Bible Club’s Equal-Access Lawsuit Dismissed

An Orange County Superior Court judge has ruled that a group of Mission Viejo High School students may not promote their Bible club on campus.

Judge Dennis S. Choate dismissed a lawsuit filed by Justin Vanschoick, 17, a student who contended that his group, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, should be recognized as a school club and allowed equal access on campus during school hours, attorneys said Monday.

The lawsuit was filed last year, after Saddleback Valley Unified School District administrators told the fellowship’s members that they do not have the same right to meet on-campus as other school clubs, such as the football team, because of their religion-based activities, said John Mendoza, who represents Vanschoick.

School officials allowed the organization to meet before and after school, as well as on weekends, but members could not make announcements in the school’s newspaper and other similar promotional activities.

School authorities said they were just following a 1988 court ruling that prevented students at Mission Viejo and El Toro high schools from advertising religion-oriented clubs on campus.

“This is not an issue of whether the Fellowship for Christian Athletes is a good organization or not,” Supt. Peter Hartman said. “This is just a difference in opinion.”

Mendoza, an attorney affiliated with the Rutherford Institute, a Christian legal center in Virginia, had argued that under the Equal Access Act, school officials must recognize the club because they allow other clubs that are not related to the school’s curriculum.

The attorney pointed to a Key Club and a girls’ league as examples. School administrators countered that those clubs fill an eight-hour community service requirement, which students need to graduate.

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The group emerged in spring 1996, when Vanschoick began meeting with about 10 other students. Since then, dozens of other students have joined.

Supporters say it has been wrongly characterized as a Bible club. They describe it instead as a support group that encourages members to do community work and helps them deal with their problems.

“It’s not a religious thing at all,” said Sheila Vanschoick, the lead student’s mother. “My view is that anything positive we can get for our kids should be allowed. This is keeping kids off the streets and giving them a peer group with a similar value system. It’s just a shame that they can’t be afforded the rights as, say, a football team.”

But after reviewing the facts of the case Friday, Choate issued a judgment in favor of the school district. Mendoza plans to appeal.

“We think that the appellate judges will say, ‘Look, judge, you erred when you denied the plaintiff’s motion,’ ” Mendoza said.

Vanschoick did not ask for any monetary damages, only a court order allowing club members to meet during school hours and promote their group on campus.

“What this means for the students is having the presence of a club sharing the word of God on a high-school campus,” Mendoza said. “It seems to me that that’s a positive thing.”