A settlement was reached last week in a lawsuit involving a Colorado Jewish teacher and the school district he works for, alleging a pattern and practice of . . . endorsement and promotion of religion in a public school setting.
Former Florence High School history teacher Robert Basevitz alleged in the lawsuit filed last spring against the Fremont Re-2 School District that the school had virtually merged with the evangelical Cowboy Church at Crossroads in Florence.
His attorney, Paul Maxon, told the Intermountain Jewish News earlier this summer that the school had become a public institution thats being run as a Christian high school in many ways.
Among the charges included in the lawsuit were that Florence High principal Brian Schipper participated in assemblies at the school alongside Cowboy Church pastor Rev. Randy Pfaff in which Bibles were handed out to students; that large Christian prayer ceremonies were held there; that weekly gatherings, billed as Jesus Pizza led by a minister were regularly held in a school space called the Jesus Room; that a prayer request box was placed in the faculty lounge; and that the actual physical presence of the Cowboy Church was located within the Florence High School building.
All such activity will now cease, according to the consent decree issued July 29 in US District Court and agreed to by Basevitz, Schipper and Fremont District Superintendant Rhonda Roberts.
The decree forbids all prayer at school-sponsored events and prohibits the Cowboy Church from using any district facilities for services. Any religious student groups active in the district must be led by students and district employees may attend such religious groups as observers only, to ensure that school rules are being followed.
The decree also bans the distribution of religious literature and placement of prayer request boxes at all district schools.
It is unclear, and the court decree does not mention, whether any compensatory damages were awarded to Basevitz or whether provisions were made to restore him to his teaching position at Florence High. He was transferred to another district school, Penrose Elementary, after filing a formal complaint against the district over the religious activities.
In a statement provided to the IJN last week, attorney Maxon said we are satisfied that the District has agreed to limit religious activity to what is allowed by law.
The Constitution protects us from attempts by the government to establish an official religion, and before this agreement the Districts activities violated those constitutional provisions.
Because we live a pluralistic society with many different faiths and creeds, it is important that our public institutions remain neutral on religious issues, so that we can all be equally represented in the public sphere.
When Maxon spoke to the IJN in late June, he indicated that the presence of evangelical activities at Florence High were part of an evangelical effort to insinuate Christianity into public schools on a national level.
One of the most active fronts in the fight to prevent Christianity from being the official religion of this country is the public schools, he said.
Nationwide, many evangelical organizations are intentionally using public school facilities to host their churches in an attempt to gain access to the students and indoctrinate them into Christian theology.
Chris Leppek may be reached at IJNEWS@aol.com.
Copyright © 2015 by the Intermountain Jewish News
