Tennessee school board refuses to settle over questionable religious activities
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. The five-member group took 45 minutes behind closed doors to mull over the proposal with county attorney Mike Jennings and two other attorneys. With the 3-2 vote for no settlement, a bench trial begins after a 24-hour delay to see if both sides could reach an agreement. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee filed the lawsuit in September 2006 on behalf of an anonymous Lakeview Elementary School (LES) student and his parents. Legal documents in the case show the school's website advertised a Christian group called Praying Parents, a practice the school has since discontinued. The suit also alleges that the Praying Parents were allowed to leave prayer messages with students. It asks the court to stop the activities and prevent the school from supporting them in the future. Jennings told the school board that the proposal was the most "constitutionally sound" agreement for both parties. After the board made its decision, about two-dozen parents in the audience applauded. They gathered outside the central office, bowed their heads and thanked God for the board's decision. School board Board member Lisa McMillin said she turned down the proposal because it was “the right thing to do.” “This happened at Lakeview. Who's to say the ACLU won't file another suit at another school?” she said. “It'll happen over and over again until someone stands up and says: 'This is wrong.' I'm ready for this battle.” Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, which voluntarily joined the suit on behalf of the Praying Parents, also objected to a settlement. “ADF will not accept the ACLU's argument that Christians should be treated as second-class citizens…,” said Nate Kellum, the fund’s senior counsel, in an e-mail message. “Whether the school board approved the agreement, ADF will continue to fight to defend the constitutional rights of the Praying Parents.”
Tennessean By Natalia Mielczarek
[Editor’s Note: Last month, the district court denied WCSS’s motion for summary judgment in the case, Doe v. Wilson County School System, 2007 WL 3376130 (M.D. Tenn. Nov. 9, 2007). The court found that the Establishment Clause issues involving the Praying Parents in school meetings and communications, prayer activities, holiday programs at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and playing of inspirational music all warranted a more detailed examination at trial. Meanwhile, in a case currently pending before the Third Circuit (DE, NJ, PA, VI), a Pennsylvania school district is being sued from the opposite direction―for declining to allow a parent to read scripture to children in her son’s class. See information on NSBA’s brief in that case, below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Busch v. Marple Newtown Sch. Dist.