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Religion and Public Schools

Artifact #6

Claudia Vourvoulidis

College of Southern Nevada

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Karen White is a kindergarten teacher who is a Jehovah Witness. She told students, and

their parents that she could not lead activities or take part in certain activities which involved

religion. This included not decorating the classroom for holidays, gift exchanges for Christmas,

or even sing “Happy Birthday.” She also refused to do the Pledge of Allegiance. The parents

protested and Bill Warden, the principal, dismissed her since she did not seem to meet the needs

of her students.

The first case in White’s favor will be Engel v. Vitale (1962). In this case, The New York

State Board of Regents held a short and voluntary prayer at the beginning of each school day. A

group of people challenged the prayer, arguing that it went against the First Amendment.

Arguing that prayers are not allowed in school under any circumstances. So is promoting or

discussing religion in the classroom. They won the case.

The next case in White’s defense will be School District of Abington Township,

Pennsylvania v. Schempp (1963). This case took place in Pennsylvania, where public schools

were legally required to read from the bible at the beginning of every school day. The Court

ruled that this case violated the first amendment. Since it forced students to practice one specific

religion. Public schools are not allowed to sponsor Bible readings, since it goes against the First

Amendment's Establishment Clause.

The first case I will be sharing in favor of the parents and principal is Santa Fe

Independent School District v. Doe (2000). This case includes a student from a Santa Fe High

School student council had a prayer, that was clearly Christian on the intercom before every
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varsity football game at home. A Mormon and a Catholic family filed suit, arguing this practice.

The Court said that the prayer at football games are public speech and allowed.

Lynch v. Donnelly (1983) is the next case discussed, siding with the principal and parents.

In this case, every year a Christmas display was put up on Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It included

Santa Claus’ house, a Christmas tree, and even a banner that said, “Seasons Greetings.” A man

named Daniel Donnelly did not like this and tried to act against the mayor of the city. Donnelly

lost the case though, since the display did not go against the Establishment Clause. Mostly since

it did not encourage a specific religious message.

I do think the court does have a justifiable basic for dismissing Karen. She completely

overreacted. In the case of Lynch v. Donnelly (1983), Daniel tried to sue the county for their

Christmas display, but lost. Just like how Karen seemed to have an issue with other holidays that

had nothing to do with her religion. Schools can celebrate holidays, but not religion and her

beliefs should not prevent students from celebrating holidays since it is allowed at public

schools. Perhaps, she should transfer to a religious one instead since this public school does not

seem like a good fit for her. Sure, prayer is allowed in school, such as stated in Sata Fe

Independent School District v. Doe (2000), but it should not create issues in a classroom or a

teacher’s performance. It is not fair for her to ban all holidays from the children just because of

her own beliefs. I believe the school will rule against Karen, since she really does not have much

of a case.
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References

Engel v. Vitale. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1961/468

Lynch v. Donnelly. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1983/82-1256

Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1999/99-62

School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved April 25, 2019,
from

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1962/142
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