Case No.: 1: 98 CV 897
HON. David W. McKeague
U.S. District Judge

MEGAN DAUGHERTY AND DONALD SWEENY,
JEFF AND CATHY SEAVER,
individually and as next friends of their minor children,

Plaintiffs,

VANGUARD CHARTER SCHOOL ACADEMY,
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY, and
NATIONAL HERITAGE ACADEMIES,
a Michigan corporation

Defendants.

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Kary Love (P42623)
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
Suite 2
348 Waverly Road
Holland, MI 49423
Phone: (616) 396-6100
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Jeffrey A. Seaver, being first duly sworn upon under oath, deposes and states as follows:

1. I am a resident of Ottawa County, State of Michigan and the parent of one child who attends Vanguard Charter Academy in grade one. As his parent, I have served on the Vanguard Moral Focus Committee and in that capacity, I have personal knowledge of the facts asserted herein.

2. As his parent, it is my impression and belief that my child is impressionable, consider his teachers and school administrators as role models, and are susceptible to peer pressure.

3. That on September 25, 1998, Vanguard announced a moral focus in-service day for October 23, 1998. The school was canceled for that day because of the moral focus in-service, and attendance by teachers and school administrators at the moral focus in-service was mandatory. (See Exhibit 1).

4. Vanguard distributed a memorandum to its teachers instructing them that the ideas presented at the retreat were to be incorporated into school lesson plans and into school wide objectives. (See Exhibit 1).

5. As a member of the parent moral focus committee,! attended the moral focus retreat which was held at the Ridgepoint Community Church in Holland, Michigan, on October 23,1998. The following events, among others, occurred at this retreat:

a. The retreat opened with Christian music, specifically with a song “When You are a Soldier” made popular by Steven Curtis Chapman, a well known contemporary Christian music artist. Upon information and belief the text for this song was taken from John 15:12 and 15:13, Proverb 17:17 and Galatians, 6:1 and 6:2.

b. The master of ceremonies for the retreat, Peter Yoshanis gave introductory remarks and based on my understanding and belief is a student currently in seminary school and was formerly a pastor.

c. Prior to lunch, a prayer was conducted. The following is a partial quote from the prayer: “Lord, together we give thanks. Lord, it is a privilege that we have today coming together focusing on character and keep looking at what it means to be a true hero. We ask that you be with us in our time here together today, and we give thanks for the provisions you have given our lives and the food we are going to eat. Lord, I thank you personally for [?]. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”

d. There were three speakers at the retreat. One of the speakers was Reverend Dr. John Reist who is an ordained Baptist minister by the American Baptist Churches. He spoke on the topic of moral absolutes, and his presentation was saturated with references to God, Jesus and biblical scripture. He quoted from the book of Proverbs, cited to a Christian parable involving a rich young ruler, repeatedly referenced Jesus and cited to the Gospel of Luke and New Testament Book of James. The following are some of his statements:

Now folks, we are shaping precious lives, which is first of all made in the image of God, whatever that is. There was a time when the Church - I don’t know if it was officially taught - but it was taught that we are not actually created in the image of God, absurd, but that is where it is going.

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Especially the older grades have these boys and girls and we want to do what we should do with it, because they are made in the image of God as you are.

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And secondly, if I may be so bold in the Reformed Church to suggest that they are [our brothers and sisters] for whom Christ died, they are made in the image of God and are loved by Christ as we are.

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We must commit ourselves to _______ to consider moral absolutes, all ten of them and all of which come from God.

6. I tape recorded the presentation by Dr. Reverend Reist, and a partial transcript of his presentation is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.

7. Vanguard has had an organized parent group called “The Mom’s Prayer Group”. According to my understanding and belief die Mom’s Prayer Group has had a practice of conducting a prayer service on Thursday mornings of each week during school hours on school premises; and at least once a month, the Mom’s Prayer Group sponsors a luncheon for teachers which takes place at the school facility in the “Parent’s Room”. Until recently, the school allowed the Mom's Prayer Group to maintain a mailbox on school premises. In late October 1998, the blackboard in the parents’ room contained the words: “Fall is a beautiful time of years, Teachers we pray you don’t lose your cheer.” Attached hereto is Exhibit 3. the minutes from the Mom’s Prayer Group for October 11, 1998.

8. The Mom’s Prayer Group has had a past practice of circulating a form among school administrators and teachers to solicit prayer requests. A copy of a blank form is attached at Exhibit 4. As evident by the meetings of October 11, 1998, teachers and school administrators have submitted prayer requests. Among the individuals identified in the minutes, the following people were named as submitting prayer requests: Kim Barnes - 4th grade teacher; Eunice Kuiper - music teacher; Jill Sage - 1st grade teacher; Mr. Gene Peterson - Vice-Principal; Marsha VanderSloot - art teacher; Doug Dewey - teacher. Upon information and belief, I was advised by Tom Greene who is a member of the Moral Focus Committee at Vanguard, that the Mom’s Prayer Group maintained a mail box in the central office in proximity to the teachers’ mail boxes for the purpose of teachers’ to submit prayer requests.

9. Even though we have brought these activities to the attention of Vanguard’s Board of Directors and School Administration, it is my understanding and belief that the Mom’s Prayer Group continued to sponsor a luncheon for the schoolteachers and administration in November of 1998, and even though the school administration has indicated it would conduct a policy review, the school administration has to date declined and otherwise refused to issue any written policies prohibiting prayer services being conducted on school property during school hours, or prohibiting school teachers and administration from participating, and/or otherwise endorsing a religious viewpoint and prayer group activities on school property.

10. It is my understanding and belief that the Lighthouse Baptist Church is allowed to use the Vanguard Public School facility for the purposes of public worship service on Wednesday night and Sunday. Based on responses to a Freedom of Information Request, Vanguard School does not charge any rent to the Lighthouse Baptist Church for use of school facilities, even though Vanguard apparently does charge other outside groups for use of school facilities.

11. Vanguard has permitted the Lighthouse Baptist Church to leave its paraphernalia and literature on school property. Vanguard permitted the Lighthouse Baptist Church to leave its sign (same was removed on or about November 9, 1998), podium and other supplies on display in the parent’s room, and the Lighthouse Baptist Church continued through at least on or about December 1,1998 to leave literature in the room. (See Exhibit 5.)

12. Outside groups have in the past been allowed to disseminated and distribute literature of a religious and/or political nature. For example, “Focus on the Family” brochures have been made available on school property. These brochures include such items as: Women of Influence, Flow To Pray for Your Children, and Women’s Guide to Reaching Goals, which contains references to Proverbs, God, the Bible and Christian educators.” (See Exhibit 6).

Further affiant sayeth not.

Dated: December 13, 1998
Jeffrey A. Seaver

On this 13th day of Dec., 1998

MICHELLE A. VISSER
Notary Public, Ottawa County, MI
My Commission Expires Oct, 8, 2002