Operation of a Childcare Facility, Even By a Church, Is a Secular Activity

A federal district court in Virginia held that state licensing of church-run childcare facilities to

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State: Federal
Categories: Child Abuse Reporting, Freedom of Religion, Schools

A federal district court in Virginia held that state licensing of church-run childcare facilities to certify compliance with health, safety and welfare standards would not burden a church's free exercise of religion.

The court concluded that "the operation of a childcare facility, even by a church, is a secular activity not entitling it to free exercise protection." Even if such as activity were deemed to be religious, the state's licensing requirements would be justified on the basis of the state's compelling interest in protecting the health and safety of small children.

The court also rejected the contention that church-run childcare facilities should be exempted from the law's financial disclosure requirements, prohibition of corporal punishment, child abuse reporting requirement, and program content requirements. Forest Hills Early Learning Center, Inc. v. Lukhard, 661 F. Supp. 301 (E.D. Va. 1987).

Legal Developments

Compelling Governmental Interest Overrode Church-Run School’s Right to Practice Its Religion

A church-operated school in Michigan adopted a policy "not to hire on a full-time basis

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: New York
Categories: Schools

A church-operated school in Michigan adopted a policy "not to hire on a full-time basis those women who have preschool age children." On the basis of this policy, the school terminated a pregnant teacher upon the birth of her first child.

The former teacher filed a lawsuit charging that the school's action violated a state civil rights law banning sex discrimination in employment. A state appeals court agreed that the school's action violated a state civil rights law, and rejected the school's claim that such a ruling violated its constitutional right of religious freedom.

Eradicating sex discrimination, concluded the court, is a compelling governmental interest that overrode the school's right to practice its religion. McLeod v. Providence Christian School, 408 N.W.2d 146 (Mich. App. 1987).

Legal Developments

Court Upheld the Right of Church-Run School to Dismiss First Grader

A New York appeals court upheld the right of a church-operated elementary school to dismiss

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

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State: Michigan
Categories: Schools

A New York appeals court upheld the right of a church-operated elementary school to dismiss a first grade pupil on account of "continuous behavioral problems."

The parents had filed a lawsuit demanding reinstatement of their child on the grounds that the dismissal had been "arbitrary and capricious." The court noted that the school had substantially complied with its procedure for discipline, which involved a series of graduated sanctions starting with a warning and leading ultimately to expulsion. The court also emphasized that private schools are "afforded broad discretion in conducting their programs, including decisions involving the discipline, suspension and expulsion of their students." Hutcheson v. Grace Lutheran School, 517 N.Y.S.2d 760 (1987).

Legal Developments

State Law Granting Immunity to Teachers for Negligent Supervision Applied to Church-Run Childcare Program.

An Illinois appeals court ruled that a state law granting immunity to teachers for negligent

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: Illinois
Categories: Schools

An Illinois appeals court ruled that a state law granting immunity to teachers for negligent supervision of students applied to a church-operated childcare program.

As a result, a supervisor could not be sued for injuries sustained by a child who fell from a slide and injured her leg. Hilgendorf v. First Baptist Church, 510 N.E.2d 527 (Ill. App. 1987).

Legal Developments

Court Concluded Children of Hassidic Jews to Choose Between Free Transportation and Their Religious Beliefs

New York law requires that all children be provided free bus transportation to both public

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: New York
Categories: Freedom of Religion, Schools

New York law requires that all children be provided free bus transportation to both public and private schools. When male children of Hasidic Jews in one community refused to be transported to their private religious school on buses driven by female drivers, the city responded by providing only male drivers on that route.

Female drivers sued the city, alleging that the city's practice violated the first amendment's nonestablishment of religion clause. A federal district court in New York agreed. The court acknowledged that the children would have to choose between free transportation and their religious beliefs (which prohibited any social interaction between the sexes), but concluded that such a dilemma was necessary in order to avoid a violation of the nonestablishment of religion clause. Bollenbach v. Monroe-Woodbury Central School District, 659 F. Supp. 1450 (S.D.N.Y. 1987).

Legal Developments

Textbooks that Omitted Religion Violated the First Amendment

A federal district court in Alabama ruled that public school textbooks that omitted reference to

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: Alabama
Categories: Freedom of Religion, Schools

A federal district court in Alabama ruled that public school textbooks that omitted reference to the significance of religion in American history and in current American life impermissibly promoted a religion of secular humanism in violation of the first amendment to the United States Constitution.

The court observed that though religion has been one of the most vital forces to shape our culture, "one would never know it by reading these books." Omitted were much of the history of the Puritans, the great awakenings, colonial missionaries (except when depicted as oppressors of native Americans), the religious influence behind the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, temperance, and modern civil rights and peace movements, and the role of religion in the lives of immigrants and minorities.

"These books," concluded the court, "discriminate against the very concept of religion, and theistic religion in particular, by omissions so serious that a student learning history from them would not be apprised of relevant facts about America's history." Such deliberate underemphasis amounted to the establishment of the religion of humanism. Smith v. Board of School Commissioners, 655 F. Supp. 939 (S.D. Ala. 1987).

Legal Developments

State’s Approval of Home School Program Does Not Violate Freedom of Religion

Parents wanting to educate their children at home suffered setbacks in two recent state court

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: Massachusetts
Categories: Freedom of Religion, Schools

Parents wanting to educate their children at home suffered setbacks in two recent state court decisions.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a state law requiring parents to obtain the local public school superintendent's approval of a home education program did not violate parents' constitutional right of religious freedom. State v. Schmidt, 505 N.E.2d 627 (Ohio 1987).

In a similar case, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that guidelines adopted by the state for approval of home education programs did not violate the right of parents to freely exercise their religion. The court agreed that parents have a fundamental right to direct the education of their children, but concluded that "such a right is not absolute but must be reconciled with the substantial state interest in the education of its citizenry." Care and Protection of Charles, 504 N.E.2d 592 (Mass. 1987).

Legal Developments

Court Rejects Church Schools’ challenge to Iowa’s Compulsory Education Law

A federal appeals court rejected a challenge by two fundamentalist church schools to the constitutionality

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: Federal
Categories: Schools

A federal appeals court rejected a challenge by two fundamentalist church schools to the constitutionality of Iowa's compulsory education law.

The state law required that church-related schools file annual reports with the local public school district listing pupils' names, ages and attendance record, texts used, and teachers employed. In addition, the law required that church schools provide "equivalent instruction" using state-certified teachers. The court concluded that the "burden on [parents'] religious beliefs—if one exists at all—is very minimal and is clearly outweighed by the state's interest in receiving reliable information about where children are being educated and by whom."

In rejecting the claim that standardized testing be used to evaluate the quality of education at the schools instead of requiring certified teachers, the court observed that "certification is the best means available today to satisfy [the state's] interest in the education of its children." The court also ordered that the state's attorneys' fees be paid since the lawsuit was "vexatious and unreasonable," and was based on arguments that had been rejected in the past by numerous courts. Fellowship Baptist Church v. Benton, 815 F.2d 485 (8th Cir. 1987).

Legal Developments

Textbooks Can Violate the Religious Freedoms of Fundementalists

A federal district court in Tennessee ruled that requiring fundamentalist Christian students to read from

Richard R. Hammar, Attorney, CPA

Bio

State: Tennessee
Categories: Schools

A federal district court in Tennessee ruled that requiring fundamentalist Christian students to read from textbooks that offended their religious beliefs violated their constitutional rights. The court ordered the students to be permitted to receive reading instruction at home under the state's home schooling law, Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools, 647 F. Supp. 1194 (ED. Tenn.).