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Religious speech policy in works
Denton school board members hold first vote ahead of state deadline07:31 AM CDT on Thursday, August 16, 2007
Faced with a looming state deadline, Denton school board members reluctantly moved forward with a policy that would let students express religious views at school events.
The board voted 6-0 in favor of the policy Tuesday on the first of two readings, despite concerns over potential legal challenges and the state’s intrusion into local matters.
“This is a political football that the Legislature has handed us, and it’s hot no matter which side of the football you’re on,” board President Charles Stafford said.
A second and final vote is expected Aug. 28.
Board member Glenna Harris abstained from voting Tuesday, saying she believes the state law that requires the local policy is an unconstitutional breach of church-state separation.
“They [state legislators] have passed this law to entice and incite a lawsuit,” Harris said. “At a time when we’re trying to educate our students, here we are in the line of fire.”
In compliance with state law, the Denton school board is considering a policy allowing students to express religious viewpoints at certain school events. The board approved the policy on its first reading Tuesday and will have a second and final vote Aug. 28. The following are excerpts from the policy:
* “The District shall treat a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint, if any, on an otherwise permissible subject in the same manner the District treats a student’s voluntary expression of a secular or other viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject and shall not discriminate against the student based on a religious viewpoint expressed by the student on an otherwise permissible subject.”
* “The District hereby creates a limited public forum for student speakers at all school events at which a student is to publicly speak. For each speaker, the District shall set a maximum time limit reasonable and appropriate to the occasion.”
* “For purposes of this policy, a ‘school event’ is a school-sponsored event or activity that does not constitute part of the required instruction for a segment of the school’s curriculum, regardless of whether the event takes place during or after the school day.”
* “For purposes of this policy, ‘to publicly speak’ means to address an audience at a school event using the student’s own words. A student is not using his or her own words when the student is reading or performing from an approved script, is delivering a message that has been approved in advance or otherwise supervised by school officials, or is making brief introductions or announcements.”
SOURCE: Denton school district
The Legislature passed the Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act this year with the goal of giving public school students more freedom to express religious views.
State Rep. Charlie Howard, R-Sugar Land, co-sponsor of the bill, argued that it was needed because of growing confusion over religious expression in schools. He said some school districts have stifled religious speech by not allowing students to say “Merry Christmas” or talk about Jesus during Easter.
The law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for school districts to pass policies creating limited public forums for students’ religious speech.
Denton’s policy establishes guidelines for when and how students could express religious viewpoints during school events, Deputy Superintendent Jamie Wilson said.
“If we had student speakers speaking at events on our campus — be it graduation, athletic events, fine arts programs, awards ceremonies — we would provide a limited forum for their religious viewpoints,” Wilson said.
Denton’s policy largely mirrors one developed by the Texas Association of School Boards, a nonprofit educational group.
Legislators also provided a model policy for districts to use, but Denton officials rejected it as too burdensome.
In a letter posted on the Texas Education Agency Web site, co-sponsors of the religious-expression bill said districts could adopt alternative policies at their own risk.
“While a district is free to have an outside group or person draft a different policy, that district will have no assurance that it is in compliance with RVAA [the state law] and will be on its own to defend that policy against legal challenges to its lawyers’ experimentations,” wrote Howard and state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa.
Denton school district attorney Randy Stout disagreed, saying the state attorney general would defend a district sued on constitutional grounds, regardless of which policy it adopted. Stout also said legal challenges could follow the adoption of either the state model or Texas Association of School Boards alternative.
Board member Jim Alexander said he would vote for the alternative policy with the understanding that the board could amend it as needed.
LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com
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