Bedford Public Schools, MI - Assemblies -

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September 9, 2022 SENT VIA EMAIL & U.S. MAIL: [email protected] Carl Shultz Superintendent Bedford Public Schools 1135 Smith Rd Temperance, MI 48182 Re: Unconstitutional Religious Assembly Dear Superintendent Shultz: I am writing on behalf of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) regarding a constitutional violation occurring in the Bedford Public Schools (BPS). Unfortunately, we have yet to receive a reply to our June 9, 2022 letter regarding the District hosting an unconstitutional prayer event. As you recall, FFRF is a national nonprofit organization with more than 38,000 members across the country, including over 900 members in Michigan. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism. A concerned District parent reports that BPS has invited an evangelical Christian ministry, Carry the Cure, to put on assemblies for all 4th through 9th grade students.1 Carry the Cure is a “faith-based organization” and ministry.”2 We are informed that the assemblies will be hosted at Bedford High School during the school day on September 13th and 14th, 2022 and that District resources will be used to bus younger students to the high school.3 Carry the Cure will put on their “Committed to Life” program, a suicide-prevention program that utlizes “faith-based methods.”4 Reportedly, their “Committed to Life” programming is neither secular or evidence-based, focusing instead on rousing religious testimonials and worship music. Additionally, it is our understanding that student attendance at these assemblies is required unless their parents sign an opt-out form prior to the assemblies.5 Finally, our complainant reports that Carry the Cure will be putting on gospel events on the evenings of the 13th and 14th which will also be held at Bedford High School. 1 Carry the Cure Assembly - Parent Email, BPS (Sep. 8, 2022), https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qo25GF70fG5uEl1cLN91Q7mbh5NJHBqjxw9nfn62xcQ/edit?usp=sharing. 2 Carry the Cure, History of CTC (Sep. 7, 2022), https://www.carrythecure.org/history.html. 3 Carry the Cure Assembly - Parents Email. 4 Carry the Cure, Homepage (Sep. 7, 2022), https://www.carrythecure.org/index.html. 5 Carry the Cure Assembly - Parents Email. We write to request that the District immediately cease partnership with Carry the Cure and refrain from hosting an overtly religious organization and coercing student participation in religious events. As we have previously explained, it is well settled that public schools may not show favoritism towards or coerce belief or participation in religion. Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000); Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992); Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985); Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1967); Sch. Dist. of Abington Twp. v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963); Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962); McCollum v Bd. of Ed., 333 U.S. 203 (1948). Government-sponsored religious exercise “has the improper effect of coercing those present to participate in an act of religious worship.” Santa Fe, at 312. Yet, favoritism and coercion are exactly what a public school district accomplishes when it sponsors religious programming and requires student attendance at that programming. Allowing an evangelical ministry even one-time access to proselytize and recruit students is a violation of the Establishment Clause. The courts have protected public school students from overreaching outsiders in similar situations. See, e.g., Berger v. Rensselaer Sch. Dist., 982 F.2d 1160 (7th Cir. 1993) (holding that distribution of bibles by Gideons in school violated Establishment Clause). Courts have granted injunctions against schools for their complacency in such situations. See, e.g., Roark v. S. Iron R-1 Sch. Dist. 540 F. Supp.2d 1047, 1059 (E.D. Mo. 2008); upheld in relevant part by 573 F.3d 556 (8th Cir. 2009) (holding that school policy allowing evangelical Christian organizations to distribute bibles in school violated Establishment Clause). This partnership with an overtly evangelical ministry demonstrates an unlawful preference for religion over non-religion and, specifically, Christianity over all other faiths. These assemblies send the message that BPS not only favors students and community members who are Christian, but that it specifically prefers Christians who subscribe to this particular brand of evangelical Protestantism. BPS is requiring 4th through 9th grade students to attend a religious assembly during the school day and on school property. BPS is quite literally broadcasting a religious message to a captive audience of students. On behalf of parents and students, FFRF has taken action against school systems for similar violations. See Mays v. Cabell Cnty Bd. of Educ., No. 3:22-cv-00085 (S.D. W.Va., Filed Feb. 17, 2022). While it is laudable that BPS wishes to take steps to address youth suicide and assist students who may be struggling, Carry the Cure’s overtly religious and non-evidence based programming needlessly alienates the BPS students and families who belong to the 37% of the American population that is non-Christian, including the almost 30% who are nonreligious.6 A Christian faith-based program may appeal to some students who subscribe to Carry the Cure’s particular brand of evangelical Christianity, but these assemblies will not have the same effect for non-Christians, such as Jews and Muslims, and nonreligious students. Certainly, there are secular, evidence-based programs that BPS could use to address community issues such as 6 Gregory A. Smith, About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated, Pew Research Center (Dec. 14, 2021), available at www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/. mental health rather than resorting to religious, faith-based programs that do not base their messages or methods in science. Bedford Public Schools must immediately cease its partnership with Carry the Cure and any other religious groups. Additionally, BPS must refrain from hosting these assemblies and cannot require or encourage student attendance at said assemblies. BPS must comply with its constitutional obligation to remain neutral toward religion and refrain from coercing student participation in or observance of religious exercises. Please inform us promptly in writing of the steps you are taking to protect the rights of conscience of all children and families within BPS. Sincerely, Samantha F. Lawrence Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Freedom From Religion Foundation