A federal lawsuit filed earlier this week challenges the rules that determine what sort of student activities will count toward service learning requirements of the Fairfax County, Virginia school system. The complaint (full text) in S.S. v. Fairfax County School Board, (ED VA, filed 3-6-2012), alleges that plaintiff's 1st and 14th Amendment rights were violated when the school refused to count, for purposes of remaining a member of the Thomas Jefferson High School National Honor Society, the hours she spent teaching a Sunday school class. Under the school district's rules, faith-based service counts only if it has a secular purpose and is based on a recognized need in the community. Activities must affect individuals beyond the immediate religious community and may not include preparation or participation in the performance of religious services. Alliance Defense Fund announced the filing of the lawsuit.
UPDATE: According to Fox News (3/9), shortly after this lawsuit was filed, Fairfax County school officials announced that they would reverse their decision to place plaintiff on probationary status, saying her faculty adviser was mistaken about the hours teaching Sunday School not counting. According to WUSA News, the student's attorneys will continue the suit in order to get the school's official policy rewritten and to obtain relief for any scholarship deadlines plaintiff may have missed.
