News

Resources

• N.J. district settles lawsuit over holding graduation in church [HTML 2,520kb]
  According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Newark Public Schools has settled a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the American Civil Liberties Union-New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) on behalf of Bilal Shareef, a Muslim student who skipped his graduation from West Side High School two years ago because it was held in the sanctuary of a Baptist Church.
  
• Minnesota orders charter school accused of promoting Islam to correct problems [HTML 2,093kb]
  An Inver Grove Heights charter school must change the way it handles issues related to Muslim prayer in school and busing for after-school religious instruction or face repercussions, the Minnesota Department of Education said Monday.
  
• Court backs Louisiana school board’s refusal to bus students to religious rally [HTML 1,593kb]
  A public school can't bus students to a religious rally during school, a federal judge ruled en banc ruled one day before the "Just for Jesus" rally at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
  
• Minnesota investigates charter school’s alleged religious activities [HTML 2,547kb]
  Tarik ibn Zayad Academy is one of only a handful of public schools in Minnesota that focuses on Middle Eastern culture. More than 300 students attend the school. Girls wear headscarves and the school shares a site with a mosque and the Muslim American Society of Minnesota.
  
• Wisconsin lawsuit filed over student’s religious art project [HTML 3,568kb]
  A student at Tomah High School in Madison has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.
  
• Texas district settles suit over prayer at graduation [HTML 2,561kb]
  Students in the Round Rock Independent School District are left out of a major vote after a federal judge prohibited the district from letting students decide on whether to have prayer at graduation.
  
• NSBA submits amicus brief in case on religious music at graduation [HTML 2,174kb]
  NSBA, joined by the American Association of School Administrators and the state school boards associations of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GU, MP) in the case of Nurre v. Whitehead, No. 05-7-35867.
  
• School district settles lawsuit over religion in schools [HTML 4,018kb]
  A Delaware school district has agreed to revise its policies on religion as part of a settlement with two Jewish families who had sued over the pervasiveness of Christian prayer and other religious activities in the schools.
  
• Arizona district sued over rules for student PA announcements [HTML 1,651kb]
  The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) announced that it was suing Deer Valley Unified School District after a Mountain Ridge High School student said she was told she couldn't use the school's PA system to invite students to the Common Cause Club's prayer meeting.
  
• Muslim athlete banned from track meet over uniform [HTML 4,422kb]
  Juashaunna Kelly, a Theodore Roosevelt High School senior (Washington, D.C.) track team who has the fastest mile and two-mile times of any girls' runner in the District of Columbia this winter, was disqualified from the Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet in Maryland after officials ruled her Muslim clothing violated national competition rules.
  
• Lawsuit alleging a classroom anti-religion bias ignites debate [HTML 4,610kb]
  A lawsuit filed by a student at Capistrano Valley High School in California alleging a classroom anti-religion bias has ignited a flurry of debate about the role a teacher's convictions and faith should play in the classroom.
  
• New Hampshire school districts may let others challenge state law requiring Pledge of Allegiance [HTML 2,620kb]
  School officials in some New Hampshire school districts may let others fight the constitutional questions raised by federal lawsuit over a state law requiring time be set aside for the Pledge of Allegiance.
  
• Controversy over distribution of religious materials continues in Plano, Texas [HTML 4,552kb]
  It is the time of year in the Plano, Texas school district for holiday card contests, secret Santas, and legal wrangling over student religious rights. The latest is a legal group's claim that school district officials have thumbed their noses at a judge's ruling on when elementary school children can hand out church pamphlets and other religious materials to other students.
  
• Tennessee school board refuses to settle over questionable religious activities [HTML 3,219kb]
  A divided Wilson County school board in Tennessee has refused to settle a federal lawsuit that alleges questionable religious activities on one Mt. Juliet campus.
  
• Atheist seeks removal of the words "under God" from Pledge of Allegiance [HTML 2,845kb]
  An atheist has pleaded with a federal appeals court to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency, saying the references disrespect his religious beliefs.
  
• District will ignore new legislation mandating a moment of silence in Illinois public schools [HTML 2,967kb]
  Evanston-Skokie School District 65 will ignore new legislation mandating a moment of silence in Illinois public schools after trying unsuccessfully to seek a waiver that would free the district from following the law, the school board said.
  
• Texas enacts Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act [HTML 4,154kb]
  Texas has enacted the Religious Viewpoints Anti-Discrimination Act (RVADA), which requires public school boards to adopt a policy allowing students a limited forum to air their religious viewpoints.
  
• San Diego schools changes ways to meet needs of Muslim students [HTML 4,592kb]
  When afternoon recess comes at an elementary school on the outskirts of San Diego, some students rush out for a quick game of hopscotch, while others gather in a room for Muslim worship.
  
• Teacher publicly condemns program allowing Muslims prayer time during school [HTML 2,876kb]
  Carver Elementary School in San Diego, California has become part of a national debate over religion in schools after a substitute teacher publicly condemned an Arabic language program that gives Muslim students time for prayer during school hours.
  
• Texas students would have greater religious freedom on campuses under new bill [HTML 2,601kb]
  Texas students would have greater freedom to express their religious views on school campuses under a bill passed Saturday by the House and sent to Governor Rick Perry, who has publicly supported the measure.
  
• New Orleans court looks at whether school boards can open their meetings with a prayer [HTML 3,114kb]
  A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking a second look at whether boards that run public school systems can open their meetings with a prayer, as Congress and state legislatures do—and whether the prayer can mention Christ.
  
• ACLU investigates allegations that a Christian speaker tried to proselytize to students [HTML 2,936kb]
  The North Carolina Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-NC) is investigating allegations that a Christian speaker at Enloe High School (EHS) tried to proselytize to students.
  
• Montgomery County school district changes practice on graduation ceremonies [HTML 1,663kb]
  Following the approval by the school board of Montgomery County, Maryland, of a high school’s plan to hold graduation ceremonies at a church, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast has announced that the Montgomery County school district will pay to hold the ceremony at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland.
  
• School board bans taping in class after student records teacher stating his religious views [HTML 2,961kb]
  After a New Jersey high school teacher was recorded telling students they belonged in hell if they did not accept Jesus as their savior, the school board has banned taping in class without an instructor's permission and added training for teachers on the legal requirements on separation of church and state.
  
• School handout urging children to attend a Yule celebration sparks objections from parents [HTML 3,033kb]
  A public-school handout urging young children in Charlottesville, Virginia, to attend a "Pagan ritual" tomorrow to "celebrate Yule" is sparking objections from concerned parents.
  
• Fairfax County, Virginia public high schools screen the movie The Nativity Story [HTML 2,272kb]
  Two Fairfax County, Virginia public high schools have screened the movie The Nativity Story, with no objections from Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-VA).
  
• Frosty shares top billing at "Breakfast with Santa" fundraiser at Sanfordville Elementary School in Warwick [HTML 4,208kb]
  Frosty the Snowman is sharing top billing this year with Santa at the annual "Breakfast with Santa" fundraiser at Sanfordville Elementary School in Warwick, New York, and the theme has been changed to a "Winter Wonderland Breakfast," sparked by one parent wanting to exclude religious inference and include all students.
  
• Parent of student sues over religious group holding classes on school property [HTML 3,000kb]
  The parent of an elementary school student has sued Morgan County Schools (MCS) in Indiana federal court, alleging the school system violated the constitutional mandate of separation of church and state by allowing an outside religious group to operate classes in a trailer on school property.
  
• Board-approved policy allows promotional fliers to be sent home with students [HTML 2,762kb]
  The board of Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has approved a policy that allows parent-teacher groups and government agencies to have teachers send promotional fliers home with students whenever the groups choose.
  
• Schools try to accomodate religious observances for a diverse student body [HTML 3,106kb]
  As student bodies become more diverse, school officials are attempting to accommodate a variety of religious observances.
  
• School board considers policy allowing Muslim students to leave school early for prayer services [HTML 1,308kb]
  The school board of Howard County Public Schools in Maryland has agreed to considering continuing a school policy that allows Muslim students to leave school 20 minutes early on Fridays to attend prayer services.
  
• Parents sue alleging that Texas schools' mandated moment of silence violates Establishment Clause [HTML 3,156kb]
  The parents of elementary school children are suing the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District (C-FBISD) in a Texas federal district court alleging that the state's mandated moment of silence in public schools violates the Establishment Clause principle of separation of church and state.
  
• School officials must wrestle with holiday activities that have religious themes [HTML 3,573kb]
  As public schools enter the winter holiday season, school officials must wrestle with how much of the holiday activities can have a religious theme.
  
• Gideons permitted to distribute Bibles to fifth graders in Lynchburg, Virginia [HTML 2,959kb]
  Members of Gideons International are being permitted to distribute Bibles to fifth graders at several elementary schools in Lynchburg, Virginia.
  
• Varsity football coach returns to his duties but considers lawsuit [HTML 2,514kb]
  Although Marcus Borden has returned to his head coaching duties of the East Brunswick High School (NJ) varsity football team and has agreed not to initiate or participate in team prayers, his attorney, Ronald J. Riccio says he is still considering whether to file a suit.
  
• High school marching band cancels plans to perform "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" [HTML 1,396kb]
  The marching band at C.D. Hylton High School in Prince William County, Virginia, has scrapped plans to perform the Charlie Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, after a resident sent a letter suggesting that a song about the devil violates the separation of church and state.
  
• Varsity football coach resigns after being told he could not initiate/participate in team prayers [HTML 2,251kb]
  Marcus Borden had been head varsity football coach at East Brunswick High School (EBSH) in New Jersey for 23 years until he abruptly resigned after being told by school officials that he could no longer initiate or participate in team prayers.
  
• The Rutherford Institute files suit in Virginia on behalf of a Spanish teacher [HTML 1,958kb]
  The Rutherford Institute (RI) has filed a lawsuit in a Virginia federal district court on behalf of William Lee, a Spanish teacher at Tabb High School (THS), against the York County School Board (YCSB).