Student files lawsuit against school district

Author: Mary Lane

A Shoreham, Vt. high school student has filed suit with the U.S. District Court in Burlington against Middlebury Union High School (MUHS) for denying student-run Christian fellowship club Youth Alive official club status. MUHS has been served papers, but no official court date has been set.

The Arizona-based Christian advocacy group Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) represents the student, who is referred to in court documents only as "V.O." ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman stated on the ADF's Web site that "granting official recognition to other non-curriculum related student clubs while denying this one solely on the basis of religion is a violation of the [federal] Equal Access Act and the First Amendment."

According to Addison Central Supervisory Union Superintendent Lee Sease, Youth Alive stated that, as a form of government, schools cannot prohibit or establish religious groups, in keeping with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. "We are not prohibiting them from using our facilities and putting up posters, nor are we standing in the way of their religious practices," said Sease.

When first contacted by Youth Alive for official status, MUHS worked in conjunction with Elizabeth Grant of Grant Norten, PLLC in Montpelier, to draft a response. "We wanted to make sure we were doing what was legally right from the start," said Sease. In an Aug. 21 letter denying the club official recognition, MUHS principal William Lawson wrote, "Club status would mean that Youth Alive's activities would become school-sponsored with monetary support and an advisor assigned."

"We followed case law," said Sease in a recent interview. "This is not about opinion, it is about what we legally can and cannot do."

Cortman disagreed with Sease's argument, contending that there is a legal precedent for the creation of the Christian club. He cited the 1990 United States Supreme Court case Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, in which a Christian club at the Omaha, Neb. school was denied the same privileges as other co-curricular clubs. The court held in an 8-1 decision that such restrictions were prohibited under the Equal Access Act and protected the club's formation.

"Giving equal access to all clubs is not a promotion of religion," said Cortman. "All this club is looking for is equal access given to other clubs."

The ADF has refused magistrate judgment, which would allow a judge to hand down a decision without the case going to court.

"The ADF has been looking for an opportunity to challenge case law. It's a debate worth having," said Sease.

Although discussion of the case has been largely kept out of the classroom, students at MUHS are well aware of the situation at hand.

"Students have been gossiping a lot about V.O.," said Carrie, 14, a student at MUHS. "There's a lot of negativity towards her and her group."

Another student, Glory, 13, was baffled by the whole debate, stating, "This isn't a religious school," she said. "A lot of other clubs besides Youth Alive have been turned down, too. V.O. should take what she's gotten and stop complaining."

Despite the recent filing of the lawsuit, the school district maintains that "there is no animosity here whatsoever," according to Sease.