Parents of students who were banned from handing out Bibles during lunch at a Pennsylvania high school reached an agreement with the school district on 28 April that changes language in the student handbook and overturns the ban.
The students had reported that the principal was preventing them from handing out Bibles at any time, including during the lunch break. The Independence Law Center then filed suit on behalf of the parents of the students, claiming the school’s policy was a violation of constitutionally protected free speech. The students are part of a group called the Christians in Action Club.
A federal judge issued an injunction against the school district in February, allowing the students to hand out Bibles.
Under the agreement reached between the parents and the school district, the district agreed to delete a portion of the student handbook that banned any speech that ‘seek[s] to establish the supremacy of a particular religious denomination, sect or point of view.’
The district also agreed to pay the parents’ attorney fees. The judge signed off on the agreement.
‘When students enter a government school, they do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression, which includes offering literature to other students,’ the Independence Law Center said in a recent statement. ‘
