Week+5+Judicial+Review

In this activity, our team needs to review and respond to a case study about a legal issue related to religion in the schools and present the case findings to the whole group. We are to review the Religion Case Study for our team stated below and discuss the legal issues in the case study. We may need to conduct additional research to learn more. As a team, we need to come to consensus and develop a team response to our case study to share with the rest of the class. Our team response should include:
 * Our team’s response to the questions that accompany the case study, with supporting evidence from the readings.
 * Questions we still have about the case study.
 * Additional comments, as appropriate, including challenges our team faced responding to the case study.

A group of students comes into the principal’s office one afternoon and asks her for permission to establish the Islamic Student Prayer Group. The student after-school group would meet to study Islam and the Koran and hold religious exercises. A Muslim teacher will sponsor the group, and an Imam from a neighborhood Mosque would come in to lead the group every week. First, I would discuss the proposal with the student. I would also consider whether a limited open forum has been created within the school based on other non-curricular student groups. I would also meet with the teacher who has volunteered to sponsor the group. She would have to be clear on the fact that, as a faculty sponsor, her role was strictly custodial, and she could not participate in the religious focus of the group. According to the ed.gov website, "The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion, showing neither faovritsm toward nor hostility against religios expression such as prayer."  Within the 1990 case, Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (Reutters, 2009, pp. 114-120), the Supreme Court ruled that, within a school that has been established as a limited open forum, student groups cannot be discriminated against based on the Equal Access Act. The ed.gov website also states that "Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, and "see you at the pole" gatherings before school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student activities groups. Such groups must be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to other non-curricular groups, without discrimination because of the religious content of their expression".  Upon ensuring that all students would be welcome to participate no matter their religious background, I would allow the Islamic Student Prayer Group to begin meeting only during non-instructional hours.   I agree with the steps descirbed by Christie above. The group would have to be available to all students of all religions. Additionally, if other student religious groups would then approach me with desires to start their own group, they would be given the same protocols to follow so as not to descriminate against any one religious group. I woud also educate the teacher and the Imam about the law regarding Separation of Church and State and provide the policies in writing, requiring their agreement to follow the law. The teacher, would not be able to "encourage or discourage parayer or actively participate in prayer with the students."
 * Islamic Student Prayer Group - Team A Case Study**
 * As the Principal, how would you handle this request?

Do other non-curricular student groups meet at the school? If so, then a limited open forum has been created, and under the Equal Access Act the Islamic Student Prayer Group must be allowed to meet. When is the Islamic Student Prayer Group asking to meet? If I am a principal at a school that is federally funded, the club would only be allowed to meet during non-instructional hours. Will all students be allowed to join and/or participate in the club, no matter their religious affiliation? The club will not be allowed to discriminate its membership based on religion.
 * Questions we have:

 great questions - Does the school send out notification of the new after school activity to parents, describing its purpose, Equal Access policy, etc.

I haven't found any reference to the participation of the Imam (or any clergy) in the club. I'm not sure how/whether this affects the purpose of the club and its establishment as a non-curricular group.
 * Additional comments and challenges:

I am also unable to find any cases or reading about bringing in clergy to lead a club in prayer. The readings do talk about what a teacher's role must be but do not specifically address when a non-school employee clergy person is a leader. 

The firstamendentcenter.org website refers to the case Santa Fe vs Doe and states, " This case demonstrated that schools cannot use a proxy, such as outside clergy or even students, to engage in activities they are themselves forbidden from practicing." However, it was refering to having clergy deliver prayers at the start of a school sponsored event such as a football game, so I'm not sure if that would have and relevance to our case since the prayer group is not school sponsored, only being allowed to take place on school grounds during non instructional time.

 Christie

Jennifer  Julie - good luck on the SLLA exam tomorrow!!!! <span style="color: rgb(0,0,0);">

References: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/rel_liberty/publicschools/topic.aspx?topic=school_prayer