Legal group fights to restore off-site voluntary Bible class for Michigan students

A legal group is fighting to restore an off-site Bible class in Michigan after it was canceled by a school district due to complaints from a secular group.

The law office of Rickard, Denney, Garno & Associates, which is affiliated with the religious liberties organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), is calling on Fremont Public Schools to restore the Bible Release Time program, which has been offered to students for about 10 years.

The Fremont Wesleyan Church has been conducting the optional 45-minute class each month for fourth-grade students at Daisy Brook Elementary School during the noon hour. Parents are required to sign a written permission form before their children could attend the classes.

However, the Michigan Association of Civil Rights Activists (MACRA) had complained to the school district about the Bible classes, saying it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by unlawfully promoting Christianity.

MACRA argued that Pastor John Perkins, who leads the program each month, would not have access to students without the school's assistance.

"Handing out Pastor Perkins' form from the school office is a violation," MACRA explained. "[T]he school is involved in facilitating the Bible classes by announcing the class and herding the kids to the exits and bus—this is also a violation," the group added.

MACRA also noted that both the superintendent and principal refer to Bible Release Time as "our program," which the secular group insists is another violation because no public school is allowed to have a program that involves religion.

Fremont Superintendent Ken Haggart told The Christian Post last week that the school district had been advised by its lawyers to cancel the program, at least for the time being.

"Our goal is to examine what we are doing, make sure it follows the guidelines of the law, and bring the program back next fall," he said.

On Friday, the Rickard, Denney, Garno & Associates law office sent a letter to Haggart, urging him to reverse the school district's decision.

"[W]e believe the school's decision is unlawful and we respectfully request it to be reversed immediately," the law office stated, as reported by Christian News Network.

The law group pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of religious release time classes in the 1952 case of Zorach v. Clauson. The court ruled that prohibiting such programs for religious students would wrongfully prefer "those who believe in no religion over those who believe."

The legal organization also noted that several secular groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have signed a statement upholding the rights of students to attend release time offerings.

Attorney Timothy Denny argued that the school district's decision to cancel the program violated federal and state law, and he urged the officials to reinstate the classes immediately.