Westside Community Schools Vs Mergens Summary

1. Yes, I believe the Bible club has legitimate grounds to file suit for use of school facilities. Principal Gayle Dixon’s decision to deny the club use is based on her interpretation of the club’s charter to be discriminatory and not necessarily the law’s or districts.

One case that caught my eye was the O.T. v. Frenchtown Elementary School District Board of Education, where a student performed in an afterschool talent show and wanted to sing the song “Awesome God.” The school violated her rights due to her performance not bearing the imprimatur of the school and her viewpoint being discriminated (O.T. v. Frenchtown Elementary School District Board of Education).

Oliver Wendell Holmes High School took part in a community wide health fair. The school set up a booth and asked their students to participate. The teachers gave extra credit to the students that attended the health fair, and the student would have to sign in at the schools booth to verify their attendance. Susie Speeker, a student at Oliver Wendell Holmes High School, attended the fair with her family. While at the community wide health fair, Susie held up a sign which stated marijuana should be legalized for compassionate use. A fellow student that attended the same school as Susie took a picture of her holding the sign and published it in the school newspaper. The principal of the school saw the photo and suspended Susie for violating the schools policy by promoting illegal drugs at a school function. Since Susie’s suspension, she claims that she has been harassed by other students and teachers at her school. Susie claims that her grades have dropped which could result in limited college choices. As a result, Susie claims her civil rights under 42 U.S.C § 1983 were violated.

4- The committee and Ms Beckel decided to include a religious studies curriculum in the program. The principal approved of it. However, Ms Wright one of the community members did not. She threatened to show up at the committee meeting with the media. On the day of the meeting, Ms Wright showed up with a placard protesting the use of the bible in public schools.

School boards often do not adequately justify their reasons for denying High School Students their first amendment rights. Usually, the

The right to freedom of expression of ones religion is at stake in this case. Mrs. Williams has a right to express her religion freely. However, based upon the Establishment Clause which prohibits any law “respecting the establishment of religion”, she does not have the right to force others to conform to her way of thinking. At the same time, students and community members have a right to express their religion, too. They also have a right not to have another person’s religion forced on them. So there is only one individual right at stake here, but it is not possible to respect this right of behalf of all the claimants. While the majority of the community, the school board, and some students will feel that it is Mrs. Williams’ right to keep the bulletin board posted, some community members, students, and ACLU feel it is their right not to keep it posted.

In 1995, Doe v. Duncanville Independent School District centered around a female student-athlete and her unwillingness to participate in prayer activity. She claimed her refusal to engage in team sponsored worship subjected her to ridicule from teammates, peers, and spectators. The Supreme Court ruled that the school district had failed the Lemon Test by endorsing religion through employee-led prayer, which is a direct violation of the Establishment Clause (Lee, 2005). As a result, “school officials, administrators, and employees were prohibited from initiating, leading, sponsoring, or promoting prayer at athletic events, or using the public address system for similar purposes” (Willett, 2014). This may not have been the popular decision, but

The ruling in my case was the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bridget. They allowed students to meet on school grounds to discuss

In the case of Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, several students in January of 1990 sued the school board alleging that Westside's refusal to allow the students to start a Christian club violated the Equal Access Act. Some students wanted to form this club and be given the same privileges and meeting terms as other after-school schools in this district. The administration initially denied the request, and the school board upheld the administration's decision. The Court of Appeals found in favor of the students in June of 1990.

Under the Establishment Clause, “The government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious doctrine or organization and the government may not discriminate among persons on the basis of their religious beliefs.” County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union Greater Pittsburg Chapter, 492 U.S 573, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 106. L.Ed.2d 472 (1989). The Endorsement test applies to cases that involve government officials and religious beliefs at school-sponsored events. Id at 592. This could be seen if officials promote or favor religion. Id. Courts have found that if prayer being delivered at public school events, organized and supervised by school officials, regardless of the event being outside the classroom and after hours, the government is endorsing religion. Lee, 505 U.S at 604. Additionally, if the government merely pressures participates to attend a religious activity, such as an opening prayer, the government is indirectly endorsing religion. Id (Holding that school officials endorsed religion when students attended “football games” in which opening prayers were given). On the other hand, to avoid favoring religion, public officials must either embrace any religious faith or embrace none at all. Id at 609. State officials favor religion if these officials recognize one religious belief, but they do not acknowledge a dissimilar one. County of Allegheny, 492 U.S at 616. (Holding that the government did not endorse religion by recognizing two different beliefs). Thus, the Endorsement Test is satisfied if either the school board promotes religious activities or if the board’s punishment of Mr. Pitstick is in favor of a religious

Over five years have passed since high school senior Joseph Frederick was suspended for 10 days by school principal Deborah Morse after refusing her request to take down a 14-foot banner he was displaying at a school-sanctioned event which read “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS.” Born as a seemingly trivial civil lawsuit in which Frederick sued the school for violating his First Amendment rights to free speech, the case made its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the long-awaited ruling of Morse v. Frederick has finally been released. In a 5-4 split decision, the court ruled in favor of Morse and upheld the school board’s original ruling that Morse was acting within her rights and did not violate Frederick’s First Amendment rights by taking away his

The Candler County School District is a small, rural school system located in southeast Georgia. Candler County is made up of the city of Metter and the town of Pulaski. Currently, there are four schools in Metter. Employing 369 faculty and staff, bus drivers, and central office staff, the school system is the largest employer in the county. Metter was founded in 1889 and incorporated in 1903 as a town in western Bulloch County. However, in 1906 Dr. Wallace Kennedy spearheaded a movement to create a new county with Metter as the county seat. The movement became reality in 1914 when Candler County was carved from parts of Bulloch, Emanuel and Tattnall counties and became Georgia 's 150th county. Metter re-incorporated as a city in 1920.

The subject of student rights has caused a lot of confusion and anger for decades now. There are two different sides that everyone seems to fall into. Some people want the constitutional rights of students to be fully protected within the school. The other side believes that, as a public institution, schools should regulate what is said or done by students to protect everyone involved. This is where it gets confusing, because it is hard to draw the line between what is allowed or not. The three most interesting topics that I chose to cover are a student’s right to free speech, religion within the school and student privacy.

In Walz Ex Rel. Walz v. Egg Harbor Tp. Bd. Of Education (2002), the Supreme Court ruled Walz’s complaint a dismissal because on three separate grade levels involved distribution of proselytizing pencils and evangelical candy with religious messages, but the school board did not allow it to be distributed in class or during school-sponsored or supervised holiday parties; therefore, Walz alleged the

The one room, log cabin, private school began by the colonists, who came from Europe, served its purpose in the early 1600’s. As the United States increased in size, so did the education system, from the first district being formed in the mid 1700 to 1800’s. Advance to the early 1900’s and many one room schools dotted the land throughout rural areas. These small districts had to meet the standards set by the educational system. High financial costs were involved in meeting and holding these standards to provide quality educational programs and adequate school facilities. This created a burden on the smaller districts, thus the thought of consolidation; “the combining of schools, districts, or administrative units…to create administrative