Parents of a second-grader in Des Moines, Washington were outraged after finding out that school administrators had banned their daughter from discussing her Christian faith with classmates.
Attorneys with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) were informed that the North Hill Elementary School student had been sent to the principal’s office 10 times since the first of the year, simply for sharing the gospel on the school playground.
School staff members were also scouring through the young girl’s backpack before she was allowed to enter the school, in search of a Bible, religious literature, or other contraband like a cross.
The mother witnessed the act one morning after dropping her daughter off and immediately spoke with the school principal. The distressed mother was told that her child was not allowed to hand out religious material to students and that it was upsetting other parents. The school was searching her backpack each day in pursuit of prohibited Christian materials.
ACLJ sent a letter to the school, explaining First Amendment rights and how they protect students in public school, with the expectation of an apology for their wrongdoing. Rather, the principal argued that school policy forbids students from distributing material that could, “Cause a disruption or interfere with school activities.”
Attorneys pointed out that the Highline School District has a Freedom of Expression policy that restricts students from passing out information that could interrupt school activities “in an assembly or classroom setting” – not outside on the playground.
“It is abundantly clear that school officials must be able to affirmatively establish that they have a substantial reason to interfere with a student’s First Amendment rights, and stating ‘because it is upsetting parents’ as the reason certainly does not meet this constitutional threshold,” ACLJ said in a statement.
North Hill’s principal said parents were supposedly troubled by the young girl asking her classmates if they wanted to talk about Jesus. The administrator’s resolution to the matter was to permit the second-grader to talk about her Christian faith as long as other students agreed to the discussion.
“The actions of the school officials were particularly egregious in this case because they not only violated this student’s rights but also publicly humiliated her. They will not get away with this,” the law group asserted.
“The ACLJ will ensure that this little girl’s religious liberties are respected once and for all. We recently sent a Demand Letter to the school; and if the school does not take immediate corrective action, we are ready to file in court if necessary.”
CBN News has reached out to the school for a comment and will publish their reply here if they get back to us.
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