This New York School District Rejected a Student’s Request to Form an Official Bible Club — Time to Read the Constitution

Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. — Exodus 1:8

Government schools across the country should know by now that if they refuse to sponsor a religious student club because the club is religious, they have engaged in religious discrimination.

But the Waterville Central School District in New York apparently has paid little attention to recent court cases, state and federal laws, or to the U.S. Constitution. An eighth-grade student started a Bible club, but the school district refuses to recognize it as an official club.

According to First Liberty Institute, the student’s legal counsel, the school district claimed that it cannot sponsor a club associated with religion. In fact, the district didn’t want the student to form the club even unofficially but relented and gave him a choice: meet during lunch with a staff member present, or apply as an outside organization to hold meetings at the school after hours.

Waterville Central School District has no legal grounds to treat a religious club differently than a secular club.

First Liberty sent a letter (PDF) to the school district explaining the student’s rights. Refusing to recognize a religious club because of religion is an obvious violation of the law.

Previous courts ruled that the Constitution established a “wall of separation” between the government and religion. It does not and never has. The Establishment Clause “never requires—and never allows—the government to discriminate against religious observers and organizations when granting benefits,” First Liberty wrote in the letter.

“By denying the same benefits to the Bible club that it provides to all non-curricular clubs,” said Keisha Russell, senior counsel at First Liberty, “the school has missed the concept of ‘equal’ in the Equal Access Act. The school’s actions are unconstitutional, and its justification is legally flawed.”

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