ACLU sues county School Board
Separation of church, state fuels lawsuit filed on behalf of Pace students
BY PAM BRANNON Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

Two students at Pace High School don't want to have to listen to prayer at their high school graduation — or any other school-sponsored event. And they don't want to have to go to a church to attend a school concert.

They have turned to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for help to get those, and other similar practices of the Santa Rosa County School District stopped.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Federal District Court in Pensacola against the Santa Rosa County School Board, the superintendent, and Pace High School's principal. The lawsuit is on behalf of two Pace High students, not named in the suit because they are minors. The suit claims many school district officials and teachers repeatedly have used their positions to promote their own personal religious viewpoints.

Benjamin Stevenson is the ACLU attorney who filed the lawsuit. He said they are asking for a court order — and for compensatory damages in the amount of $1 for each student. They are also requesting legal fees.

Stevenson said the lawsuit addresses four major issues:

Prayer at graduation and school events - either having pastors and clergy saying the prayers or having students lead the prayer.

Sponsorship of religious services in connection with school events, such as Baccalaureate.

Using churches for school related events, such as concerts and award ceremonies and banquets. The suit says there have been Christmas concerts held at churches when the school was available, and there have been award ceremonies and banquets also held at churches instead of using school facilities.

School officials preaching or proselytizing students in class settings or after-school events. The suit claims some students have been forced to listen to teachers and staff preach about "Judgment Day with The Lord" at Pace High. And it claims some teachers and staff have used Biblical readings and interpretations during student meetings.

"We tried to avoid litigation. We first contacted the School Board in 2006, sending a letter warning them that they were not in line with the Constitutional rights of students. There was a ruling of the Supreme Court in 1992 saying public school districts cannot follow these practices. We sent the school board letters outlining where they were in violation of the law," Stevenson said. "We have had several conversations with the School Board's attorney, Paul Green. They have always said they would try to formulate a resolution and we even had some discussion back and forth about what kind of resolution would work to bring the district in line with the law. But nothing has happened."

Stevenson said his office has monitored the situation since 2006, using public records requests to watch for violations.

"Your readers in Gulf Breeze might be interested in knowing that Gulf Breeze High, Gulf Breeze Elementary and Gulf Breeze Middle Schools have been very low on the list of violations. They don't violate the law in this area often. Not as much as the rest of the district, as in Pace," Stevenson said.

"The law is clear here," Stevenson said. "Under the federal law passed by Congress, and under the ruling by the Supreme Court in 1992, students in the public schools have a right not to have teachers or administrators use their positions to promote or teach their own personal points of view. We would really like to resolve this without protracted litigation.

"It is not in anyone's best interests to litigate this," Stevenson said. "We would be glad to drop the lawsuit if they would come up with a resolution that is in line with the law, the Constitution and the students' rights, and then follow the policy."