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Illinois School Board Journal
January/February 2007
Engage your community if religious issues arise
by Charles McCormick and Melea Smith
Charles McCormick is superintendent of Kaneland CUSD 302 in Maple Park, Illinois, and Melea Smith is director of communications for Naperville CUSD 203. Both are members of the Illinois chapter of the National School Public Relations Association.
From a community relations standpoint, religion's place in the public schools can be the proverbial two-edged sword. Questions of religion often can be divisive. But they also may offer an opportunity for engagement and open discussion.
All of these could raise questions around religion that concern the community as well as the school district. So how can a board of education best guide its school district on the issue of religion in the schools?
Think community relations
The tenets of good community relations and effective board governance are especially applicable when approaching a topic like religious activities as related to public schools.
Neither school boards nor superintendents like to be surprised, especially when it comes to such a potentially volatile issue as religion and public schools. A solid underlying foundation of good community relations will minimize this possibility. This underpinning provides the goodwill and trust through which an issue of controversy can be explored and resolved.
Any hint of concern about religion in the schools should be taken seriously and investigated. The time to address such concerns is before things have festered to a crisis level. Trying to work out policies and procedures during a crisis can be difficult, if not impossible. Having policies and procedures in place, in a form readily available to the public (e.g., on your school district's Web site), can help avoid crises and/or provide the tools by which inquiries can be resolved satisfactorily.
Posting information will allow the school district to inform people about the various possibilities and limitations under which religion and public schools can interact. Sometimes, a little bit of proactive community education can prevent things from becoming problematic. This must certainly occur if a school district is to have partnerships with faith-based churches or groups. Such relationships will be much more productive for all concerned if the proper information is exchanged, the legal parameters recognized and respect for all concerned made evident.
Knowing the law
District leadership can get itself in a great deal of trouble by acting — or reacting — without a solid knowledge of constitutional law, Supreme Court rulings and state/local practices. Schools and community religious groups are usually intimately linked through a common denominator — the students and families which form the greater community. Conflicts between such major community institutions as religious organizations and schools have the potential to be severely damaging to both entities.
Not all conflict can be avoided. Therefore, conversations about difficult topics may need to occur. Discourse regarding religion in the schools must be civil. A brochure from the First Amendment Center, located in the Bible belt of Nashville, Tennessee, "A Parent's Guide to Religion in the Public Schools," states: "…if we are going to live with our deepest differences, then how we debate, and not only what we debate, is critical."
Remember that there is a critical difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion; sometimes, however, the line between the two is difficult to discern.
The first Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the establishment clause, states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ... ." This clause has been interpreted by the courts as requiring a separation between church and state. The government — and by extension, the public schools — must remain neutral on religion. In general, schools may not:
1. promote one religion or faith group over any other
2. promote a religiously based life over a secularly based life
3. promote a secularly based life over a religiously based life
A 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Santa Fe v. Doe, stated: "School sponsorship of a religious message is impermissible because it sends the ancillary message to members of the audience who are non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and an accompanying message to adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community."
Since schools cannot favor one religion over another, nor religion over non-religion, the voice of non-religion ought to be heard somehow. This does not mean that schools have to be non-religious. However, they do have to listen to and respect the wishes of the non-religious, just as they must listen to and respect those representing various religious perspectives. As with any community-based conversation — especially a potentially controversial one — it is important to hear from the broadest perspective possible: the whole community.
Help is available
As with any issue of import, the board's best tool is policy. A foundation is provided by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB), which has recommended a number of policies that pertain to various interactions involving religion and schools. For example, sample policies exist on instructional materials, assemblies and ceremonies, teaching about religion, student attendance, discrimination/harassment and staff.
If religion is an issue of sufficient concern in your community, a great deal of guidance is available for board members, administrators and teachers from reputable sources, such as The First Amendment Center (http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org), the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (http://www.ascd.org) and the U.S. Department of Education (http://www.ed.gov). Also, school attorneys are usually familiar with the various tenets of statutory and case law pertaining to religion and the schools, and can offer guidance when specific issues rise.
When engaged in public discourse on this topic, it is important that you be informed of the legalities, board policies and current practices within the school district you serve. Do your homework and ask your superintendent to be sure that the staff members have done theirs.
While the relation between religion and schools, on first blush, is often viewed as a topic full of controversy — a veritable minefield — it does not have to be so. Familiarizing yourself with the basic tenets of good practice in this area can help to avoid making what could be a costly mistake, costly from many perspectives — the investment of time, money and equally, if not most important, a community relations vantage point.
In the long run, it is the quality of those relationships that will most hurt or help a school district.