COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Pine Creek High School senior Chase Windebank has meet with classmates during free time to pray, sing religious songs, and discuss their faith for the last three years with no problems.
But the Colorado Springs student was recently summoned to the office where school officials told him his group’s activities violate the U.S. Constitution and demanded that the group refrain from religious activities during their “Seminar” period – free time in which students are permitted to do as they’d like, according to media reports.
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“Far from being unconstitutional, religious speech is expressly protected by the First Amendment, and public schools have no business stopping students from praying together during their free time,” according to Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Matt Sharp, one of several ADF attorneys who filed a federal lawsuit against the district on Windebank’s behalf Nov. 7.
“Public schools should encourage the free exchange of ideas,” ADF Senior Legal Council Jeremy Tedesco said. “Instead, this school implemented an ill-conceived ban that singles out religious speech for censorship during free time.”
According to an ADF news release:
The school district’s Open Time Policy permits all students to leave class 15 minutes after the beginning of the “seminar” home-room period on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students who are earning more than a “D” grade can do the same on Fridays. School district policies and procedures define “open time” in numerous places as consisting of lunchtime and the seminar period.
During the free time, students are permitted to engage in a virtually unlimited variety of activities, including gathering with other students inside or outside; reading; sending text messages to their friends; playing games on their phone; visiting the bathrooms; getting a snack; visiting teachers; and conducting official meetings of school clubs.
For three years, student Chase Windebank met during the free period on Mondays and Fridays with students in an unoccupied choir room to pray, sing Christian songs, and discuss issues of the day from a religious perspective. On Sept. 29, Assistant Principal James Lucas told Windebank that the meetings could continue but any religious speech would have to stop because of the “separation of church and state,” an inaccurate shorthand description of the First Amendment, which actually protects private religious expression.
ADF attorneys sent the district a letter Oct. 7 informing officials that the no-praying policy was unconstitutional, and violated students’ rights, and ADF would pursue legal action if the district doesn’t restore the club’s right to pray during fee time.
But Patricia P. Richardson, the district’s director of legal relations, defended the policy in a response two days later.
“In accordance with the Equal Access Act, non-curriculum related groups, such as Chase’s prayer group, may meet at Pine Creek High School during non-instructional time. Our administrative policy JJA defines ‘noninstructional time.’
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“’For purposes of this policy, ‘noninstructional time’ means time set aside by each school before actual classroom instruction begins or after actual classroom instruction ends, and may include specific activity periods set aside for this purpose,” Richardson wrote.
“Seminar at Pine Creek is not homeroom time. It is class time and it is considered instructional time. No non-curricular clubs are permitted to meet during that time period at Pine Creek High School. Therefore, Mr. Windebank may resume his prayer meetings at Pine Creek High School, but he must do so during non-instructional time, that is before 7:45 a.m. when classes being, or after 2:45 p.m., when classes end for the day.”
Windebank has complied with the district’s policy as his prayer group has dwindled from about 90 students to roughly a dozen because of complications with sports or work during the before and after school meeting times, according to the ADF release.
The district’s response prompted ADF to file a six count lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Colorado against school officials for multiple violations of the first and fourteenth amendments.
ADF attorneys, working on Windebank’s behalf, are seeking an injunction to stop the district’s anti-praying policy, and a judgment declaring the district’s open time policy unconstitutional, according to the lawsuit.
The district’s response also prompted criticism from Fox News columnist Todd Starnes, who attempted to contact school officials for more answers.
“The school district’s paltry explanation doesn’t make much sense,” Starnes wrote. “So I sent the spokesperson a list of follow up questions:
“Why were the students allowed to hold religious gatherings for the past three years if it was against the rules?
“Was there a change in district policy?
“Or was it possible the district had simply ignored their own policy and allowed the kids to meet anyway?
“Why the sudden crackdown on the religious gathering? Did someone complain?
“I’ll let you know when the district spokesman gets back to me with the answers,” Starnes wrote. “So far, it’s been radio silence.”
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