The ACLU of Louisiana
announced yesterday that it has filed a federal lawsuit against a western Louisiana parish school board on behalf of a married couple and their children/ stepchildren alleging that blatant promotion of Christianity by a Negreet (LA) school violates the Establishment Clause. One of the plaintiffs, the mother, has been a practicing Buddhist for 14 years and the lawsuit focuses particularly on harassment by the school of her 6th-grade son who is of Thai descent and a life-long Buddhist. The complaint (
full text) in
Lane v. Sabine Parish School Board, (WD LA, filed 1/22/2014) alleges in part:
[S]chool officials have a longstanding ... practice of promoting and inculcating Christian beliefs by sponsoring religious activities, as well as conveying religious messages to students.... [A]t Negreet, which serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, teachers ask students for professions of faith in class. At least one science teacher treats the Bible as scientific fact, telling students that the Big Bang never happened and that evolution is a “stupid” theory that “stupid people made up because they don’t want to believe in God.” Paintings of Jesus Christ, Bible verses, and Christian devotional phrases adorn the walls of many classrooms and hallways.... And staff members routinely lead students in Christian prayer....
[W]hen ... C.C..... enrolled in the sixth grade ..., he quickly became the target of proselytizing and harassment by one of his teachers ... who ... told her students that [C.C.'s] faith, Buddhism, is “stupid.”
[When C.C.'s parents complained] ... the Sabine Parish Superintendent of Schools ... told the Lanes that “[t]his is the Bible Belt” and that they would simply have to accept that teachers would proselytize students. She also asked whether C.C. had to be raised as a Buddhist and whether he could “change” his faith, and she suggested that C.C. transfer to another district school – more than 25 miles away where, in her words, “there are more Asians.”
In addition to filing suit, the ACLU plans to file complaints with the Department of Education and Department of Justice.
