Student’s Suit Over Bible Club Ban Reinstated

Raising questions about whether school districts can ban Christian student clubs, a state appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a Mission Viejo teen whose effort to create a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter was rejected by school officials.

A lower court threw out the suit before it went to trial, ruling that the Saddleback Valley Unified School District was within its right to prohibit clubs with religious affiliations from meeting on campus.

But justices at the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana, in a sharply worded decision, said it could be argued that the Bible-study group is no different from other campus organizations such as the Key Club and Girls League.

The three-justice panel also questioned the district’s argument that allowing the Christian club to meet at Mission Viejo High School would blur the lines between church and state.

“Merely granting [the club] the same privileges enjoyed by all other campus clubs offends neither the U.S. Constitution nor that of this state,” wrote Justice Thomas F. Crosby.

District officials said they will continue their ban as the case proceeds through the legal system and may appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. The student’s attorney called the opinion a victory that will have implications across the state.

“This sends a loud signal to school districts that treating religious clubs like second-class citizens will not be tolerated in the state of California,” said Brad Dacus, an attorney for the student, Justin Van Schoick.

Van Schoick filed his lawsuit in 1996 after school officials rejected his application for a Bible club aimed at “creating a Christian presence on campus.” The club wanted faculty advisors and equal access to school facilities during school hours.

Under the 1984 federal Equal Access Act, religious groups are permitted in schools where there are clubs not directly related to academic courses. Saddleback school officials said the act doesn’t apply in their ban because the district prohibits any clubs that aren’t directly related to curriculum.

But the appeals court doubted whether other campus groups allowed on campus were curriculum related and said the matter should be decided by a jury.

“Community service clubs are, at best, only marginally related to the usual high school curriculum,” wrote Crosby, citing language from another case.

Legal experts said the ruling is the latest in a string of appeals court decisions against school districts trying to avoid the requirements of the equal access act.

“They’re thumbing their nose at the statute,” said John C. Eastman, a professor of constitutional law at Chapman University School of Law in Orange. “If you open your doors to other student clubs, you have to give all clubs equal access.”

The appeals court also rejected the lower court’s ruling that teacher involvement in the club would amount to “impermissible state sponsorship of religion.”

Wrote Justice Crosby: “Students simply are not, and will not be, exposed to the teachers’ involvement in the group, making it highly unlikely that [the group’s] on-campus meetings would convey a message of the state approval or endorsement of religions.”

District officials stood by their decision to ban the club.

“We will be litigating this case,” said Saddleback Supt. William Manahan. And until a judge says otherwise, he said, the ban on Christian clubs on Saddleback’s campuses will continue.

Welcomed on many other Orange County high school campuses, Christian clubs meet during lunch for members to pray, talk with local pastors and support each other in holding on to Christian values. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has chapters all over Orange County, said Scott Glabb, who advises the club at Santa Ana High School.

Saddleback officials, however, said their policy prohibits such clubs.

“The policy was set up in an effort to develop a club orientation that directly related to the instruction of our course work,” said Robert Metz, the district’s director of secondary education. “We felt at that time that it should be related to that which we do, specifically curriculum.”