Public schools deal with numerous issues that have the potential to become church-state problems if handled improperly. In a lawsuit filed yesterday the ACLU of Tennessee, Sumner County schools are accused of running afoul of quite a few of them. A press release describes a school system with widespread religious liberty violations.
Filed on behalf of nine students from four families, the lawsuit alleges a pattern and practice of the promotion and endorsement of religious activity dating back as early as 2006. This pattern and practice includes teachers leading students in prayer and Bible study sessions; the opening of one school to a youth minister who proselytizes frequently at student lunch tables; the distribution of Bibles during instructional time; prayer over the loudspeaker; the display of a cross on a classroom wall; preferential treatment of religious organizations in their ability to distribute materials to students; songs at school musical performances being predominantly religious; graduation and other school events being held at churches; and the opening of school board meetings with prayer.
You can view the complaint here. I'm especially interested in the issue regarding the youth minister at lunch. I don't remember hearing of a claim like that before, so it may lead to some interesting discussion if this gets to trial. Whether or not it's a problem – a local youth minister attending lunch and discussing religion with children at tables – will depend on the surrounding facts and perhaps the school's visitor policy, but bears watching.
Most of the other issues are old standards: graduation in church, Bible distribution, etc…, but I can't remember seeing so many alleged in the same suit – "patterns and practices" over many years and in many areas of school responsibility. Stay tuned.
