Originally appeared in The Paper at http://www.the-paper.com/metro/metro042299.html

Pray Tell
Parent enlists ACLU's help to keep Wyoming charter school religion-free

When Jeff Seaver enrolled his oldest child at Wyoming's Vanguard Charter Academy, he had no idea that, two years later, he'd join with the American Civil Liberties Union to bring a lawsuit against the school. But that's exactly what has happened.

In March, Seaver, of Allendale, recruited the ACLU's help in his mission to keep religion out of Vanguard's curriculum and activities.

Everything began after an Oct. 23 teacher in-service day held in Holland, says Seaver. As chair of Vanguard's Moral Focus Committee, he was present at the function, which included a "specifically Christian prayer" led by a Baptist minister and religious music. The audience of charter school teachers, says Seaver, was encouraged to incorporate seminar information into future lesson plans.

Ever since his son began classes at the school, Seaver says he's been concerned with such things as the Vanguard parents prayer group, which had been meeting onsite during school hours. After the in-service day, he sought legal council.

"I would like to see clear-cut guidelines that are in accordance with the Constitution's guidelines," he says. The issue isn't whether the religious beliefs are in line with his own; the issue is whether religion belongs in a charter school.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said faith-based education should be left out of public school curriculum. Charter schools, which receive state funding, are technically public schools and must abide by public school guidelines, including religious policies.

In early November, Seaver and his initial legal council met with other concerned parents, the school board, Grand Valley State University (which holds Vanguard's charter) and National Heritage Academies representatives to discuss his concerns.

Months later, on Feb. 16, Seaver took the case to Lansing's Federal District Court for a Preliminary Injunction Hearing.

"Under an injunctive relief, they either have to do or stop doing something," says Seaver. He never expected to win the injunction, which was denied.

Jeff Poole, vice president of marketing at National Heritage Academies, Vanguard's managing company, says the injunction wasn't granted because the school had already adjusted its policies to comply with state laws. The school can't suffer penalties if it's doing nothing wrong, he says.

"We responded in a proactive manner to be fair to all the students," says Poole. He says two families of Vanguards 487 students have expressed concerns about the school's religious practices.

"The school was able to walk in and say what's been fixed," says Seaver. "The hardest thing to demonstrate is that something will continue to happen. How do you prove that something that hasn't happened yet is going to happen?"

Enter the ACLU.

Michael Steinberg, legal director of the ACLU of Michigan, says his group became involved because it feels Vanguard is violating the separation of church and state that's mandated by the Constitution.

As part of its argument, the ACLU says Vanguard allowed the distribution of religious materials during class and taught creationism as an accepted scientific theory.

Steinberg says the ACLU hopes to establish a precedent that keeps charter schools from practicing religion. In response to Seaver's concerns, on March 15, the school's Board of Directors approved 18 pages of policies covering teaching about religion, students' and teachers' religious expression, academy distribution of non-curriculum-related literature and the use of school facilities. Until last month, the school had no such policies.

"Teaching about religion should always operate within the context of First Amendment rights and responsibilities. In order to ensure the activity is constitutional, its purpose and effect must be to educate about rather than promote or denigrate religion," reads a portion of the document.

Problem solved, says Vanguard's principal Al Couch. "We have put together a policy to stay within Supreme Court boundaries," he says. The school also put a stop to a mothers' prayer group.

The newly instituted policies don't meet Seaver's standards. The distribution of religious fliers, and meetings by the mothers' prayer group, among other things, are all allowed under the new polices says Seaver. Vanguard says it has allowed for change in the new policy.

"It is possible that these proposed policies do not address every First Amendment issue that Vanguard Charter Academy will encounter ... the Board of Directors intends... to adopt additional policies to cover situations that are not yet anticipated," reads the cover letter to the new policies.

But further concerns have fallen on deaf ears, says Seaver, who continued to press on further with his case. A settlement meeting, the last chance for the parties to settle out of court, is scheduled for next month.

Everyone involved doubts the meeting will have an effect. Vanguard says it's complied with Seaver's requests, Seaver says it hasn't. After the hearing, the next step is to take the case to court on March 3, 2000.

Regardless of the outcome, Seaver plans to send his son back to Vanguard in the fall. He says he was drawn to Vanguard for its reputation for excellent academics and high moral focus. Those, says Seaver, are uncontestable.

-- Susan Posternock