Tag Archives: Public School

School Votes Not To Restore Ten Commandments Plaque

An Ohio school board has voted not to place a plaque of the Ten Commandments that was donated by the class of 1956 back in the high school.

The plaque was removed after a complaint from a parent who kept their identity hidden.

The Marion City School Board voted to “indefinitely loan” the plaque to the Marion County Historical Society for display so that it won’t be placed inside the high school.

The removal sparked outrage in the community.  Residents spoke up in favor of restoring the plaque within the school.

“It was a gift and it was a very nice gift, and I would like to see it stay,” 1956 graduate Bob McQuiston told those gathered, according to the Marion Star.

“I’m ashamed of Marion City Schools right now,” stated parent Sheri Cook.

“What’s so dangerous about the Ten Commandments?” resident Phillip Bates asked.

The board hid behind their legal counsel who said that they should not restore the plaque.

Christian Teachers Sue To Have Good Friday Off

The school district in Cranston, Rhode Island says that Good Friday is not a religious holiday and therefore teachers who are Christians cannot use one of their two designated personal days for religious events.

The teachers are saying that’s violating their rights.

The close to 200 teachers are suing the school district, saying that they should have the right to take the day and attend services at their local churches.  The school’s superintendent, Judith Lundsten, said that the contracts of the teachers specify they may take the holiday only if they are required to attend services and that Good Friday “has no required services.”

The teachers say the actions of the Superintendent violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

This year marks the first time in decades that Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Good Friday are not holidays in the school calendar.  The school committee voted to eliminate those holidays in June.

It has been a long, difficult winter for our parents, students and staff. We have already accumulated six additional days to our school year,” said Janice Ruggierei, chairperson of the Cranston School Committee.

“We should be focusing on finishing the school year by meeting our students’ academic calendar requirements.”

Texas School Gives In To Freedom From Religion Foundation

A Texas school principal that had been quoting Bible verses during the morning announcements and whose superintendent said he wouldn’t give in to virulent anti-Christians demanding he stop, has given in.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation had attacked the school because allegedly a student contacted blogger, Hemant Mehta, who calls himself “the friendly atheist.”  Mehta contacted the FFRF to demand the school stop quoting scripture.

School superintendent Michael Gilbert stood up for his principal and said that he would not punish him nor make him stop.

“The residents were offended at the use of Scripture, demanding that it be stopped and calling for disciplinary action against Mr. Noll,” he stated. “I am fully aware of the practice at the high school and will not pursue any action against our high school principal or any other member of our faculty/staff concerning this issue.”

“Let me also be clear that we have not (in my opinion) violated anyone’s rights and/or subjected anyone to undue stress,” Gilbert continued. “Bible studies and Scriptures are allowed in schools. The requirement is that the material be presented in a neutral manner. It is my position that we met that standard with the morning announcements.”

However, Saturday, principal Dan Noll said he would be giving in to the FFRF and no longer quote scripture during his announcements.

Memorial To Teacher Threatened By Anti-Christianists

The anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to destroy a monument to a beloved teacher because they cannot stand her Christian faith being referenced in the memorial.

Ravenswood Middle School in West Virginia has a monument to Joann Christy, a 26-year educators who died in a car accident.  The memorial had bench, two stone planters and several crosses to represent her deep Christian beliefs.

“There’s so many kids that came through this school that were affected by her death, that were affected by her teachings, and now we’re just trying to keep her memory alive here,” Tracy Sadecky, a family friend, told a local TV station.

The family of the late teacher agreed to have the crosses removed in an attempt to appease the hate group, but left angels saying that Christy had a collection of angels and the angels represented her.

Church Revitalizes Gang-Infested School

An inner city Portland, Oregon school that at one time was scheduled to be closed because of gang violence and under performing students is now thriving after a partnership with a local church.

“Roosevelt High School was well known as the most under-resourced and failing school in the state. It had become a metaphor for failure, with a capital ‘F,”‘ Pastor Kip Jacob of SouthLake Church in West Linn told The Christian Post.

The school was once part of a thriving community until the late 1980s when members of the Bloods and Crips gangs moved north from Los Angeles in an attempt to extend their criminal enterprise.   The church’s facilities and grounds crumbled and it became almost impossible for students to focus on their education with the rising crime level.

Then in 2008, SouthLake Church partnered with Roosevelt to turn around the culture of the area.

“When the opportunity for that first work day came, people rallied and communicated to the kids that they are really worth it,” Pastor Jacob told CP. “That is one of the things that has been so exciting for us to see is that it has led to a renaissance of the school and the community.”

The church provides the school with clothes, hygiene products and even food for the students when they need it.  The church members also work with each academic department to see what specific needs they have for their students.

“The clean-up day went so well, the school told us that it was about a $250,000 benefit to the school. That was their evaluation. They just kept inviting us in. The needs were so great,” Jacob said. “We just filled gaps and met needs and they kept inviting us in to do that to the point where they invited us to have a staff person with an office in the school to help coordinate volunteers.”

As a result of the church’s efforts, private businesses have now joined to help the school.

“I think what happened is the church was able to be a catalyst for others to come in, businesses to come in,” Jacob said. “Nike came on board once they saw the momentum and said, ‘We can build a [turf] football field,’ and they did. Then another business came in and built a track, the best track in the Portland area. It just really rallied the community around the common good of the kids.”

New York City Continues To Fight Church Meetings In Schools

The administration of New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio is continuing a fight to keep Christians from being able to hold meetings in public schools as other taxpayers of the city are permitted to do.

The case of Bronx Household of Faith v. Board of Education has been in the court system for 17 years.  The Board of Education refused to allow the group to meet inside a school saying that allowing a church to meet in school facilities was a violation of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.  However, in 2012 a U.S. District Judge issued a permanent injunction allowing the group to hold services inside a school saying the school was violating the Free Exercise clause of the Constitution in their denial.

The city appealed that decision, getting the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to rule 2-1 that it was Constitutional to discriminate against Christian groups and other religions.  That ruling is now before the Supreme Court.

“The department’s decision to make public schools available to religious organizations for a wide range of activities, but not for worship services or as a house of worship, is constitutional,” the city stated in a brief to the Supreme Court. “The policy does not prohibit, limit, or burden any religious practice; does not entangle the government in matters of religion; and does not impair petitioners’ ability to speak freely.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom is asking the court to uphold the Constitutional right for Christians to use the facilities like any other taxpayer.

“Churches meeting in New York City public schools for worship services have fed the poor and needy, assisted in rehabilitating drug addicts and gang members, helped rebuild marriages and families, and provided for the disabled,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The churches have also helped the public schools themselves by volunteering to paint the interiors of inner-city schools; donating computers, musical instruments, and air conditioners; and providing effective after-school programs to help all students with their studies.”

Anti-Christianists Attack “Good News Club” in New York Town

A group of anti-Christianists is attacking a Christian Good News Club being held at an elementary school in New York with what they call the “Better News Club.”

“The organization was created first as an alternative to the Good News Club, a Christian evangelical group who enters public schools to proselytize to children and, according to their own materials, declares them all sinners in need of salvation,” the website for the group outlines.

The anti-Christianists say the Good News Club is “a form of psychological abuse, akin to telling small children they’re flawed or evil, and must subscribe to a dogma in order to avoid eternal punishment.”

Child Evangelism Fellowship sponsors the Good News Club meeting at Fairbanks Elementary School in Churchville, New York.  The children in the Club must have permission of their parents to attend meetings.

“Our ministry is dedicated to helping children in 150 countries around the world to know God and learn from the Bible,” the group says on their permission slip.

“Listen, the message of the gospel, the teaching of the core Christian tenets of the Christian faith that have been taught for 2,000 years in the Bible is what we’re teaching,” CEF Vice President of Ministries Moises Esteves told local television station KOIN. “There’s nothing new here.”

EEOC Says School Broke Law In Firing Christian Teacher

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says a public school district in New Jersey broke the law when it fired a substitute teacher who gave a middle school student a Bible.

The federal agency said that Walt Tutka was illegally fired in 2013 after he gave a Bible to a student who approached him privately and asked where “the first will be last and the last will be first” was written.

Tutke told Fox News the situation began in October 2012 when he held the door open for students rushing to be first for lunch.  He told the last student in line “just remember, the first will be last and the last will be first.”

The student then approached Tutke several times asking where that phrase was written.  Tutke looked it up and told the student where in the Bible it was located but the student wanted to find it for themselves.

“I thought that was going to be the end of it, but it wasn’t,” Tutka said. “He continued to speak with me until one day I happened to have my Bible with me right during lunch. It hit me when he stopped me and I said, ‘Look, here it is right here. Here you go.

“It was a gift,” Tutka added. “[He] said [he] didn’t have one; [he] wanted one.”

The EEOC said “there is reasonable cause to believe that respondent has discriminated against [the] charging party on the basis of religion and retaliation.”

New York Student Gets OK For Christian Club

A New York student who had been told that she could not start a Christian club called “Dare To Believe” has now been given the go ahead to start the group.

Liz Loverde was told in September that she could not start the club.  Principal Carolyn Breivogel said that the club’s existence would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The Liberty Institute contacted the school on behalf of Loverde when her family sought help to protect the girl’s constitutional rights.  The group told the school the denial of the Christian group was a violation of the Equal Access Act of 1984.

The school then reversed its decision and approved the Christian group along with other student groups.

“It took a lot of courage for a 15-year-old girl to come forward to reveal that her principal said Christian clubs are illegal,” said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel of the Liberty Institute. “It is always a scary position for students to take a stand against government school authorities who hold significant power over their everyday lives. We look forward to Wantagh High School respecting Liz’s religious liberty at school.”

The school denied that they had refused to allow the group.

New Jersey Teen Battles Anti-Christianists To Keep Under God In Pledge

A New Jersey court heard arguments on Wednesday on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by anti-Christianists to have “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.

The motion to dismiss was filed by the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty on behalf of a New Jersey high school student who is standing up to the anti-Christianists and their attempts to remove any reference to God from public schools.

“I’ve been reciting the pledge since preschool, and to me the phrase ‘one nation under God’ sums up the history and values that have made our country great,” Samantha Jones said. “I think it’s empowering to know that, no matter what happens, I have some rights the government can never take away. No student should be silenced just because some people disagree with timeless American values.”

The legal counsel from the Beckett Fund praised the judge for being ready for the case and said it would be hard to tell which way he would be ruling on the motion.

“The judge seemed focused on the case, he had prepared well, and he was familiar with the arguments of each of the parties,” Diana Verm, legal counsel with the Becket Fund, told The Christian Post.  “He asked tough questions of each side, and it is difficult to predict the outcome, but we are optimistic that he will agree with every other court to decide this issue and uphold the pledge.”