Ministers barred from lunch with students

Ministers barred from lunch with students
Kentucky church, schools in dispute
Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted: 10:19 AM EST (1519 GMT)


SHEPHERDSVILLE, Kentucky (AP) -- Ronald Shaver has lost his daily lunch appointment.

For 17 years, he and other Baptist ministers have been meeting with Bullitt County public school students during their lunch breaks. But school officials in this county south of Louisville now say those meetings are no longer allowed during the school day, a decision that has prompted protests from church members and a call to pack next week's school board meeting.

The dispute started last month when ministers of Little Flock Baptist Church in Shepherdsville went to North Bullitt High School and Hebron Middle School, but were not allowed to have lunch with students. The principals told the ministers that Superintendent Michael Eberbaugh ordered an end to the visits after some staff members expressed concerns.

Shaver called the move "anti-Christian discrimination" and said that the ministers visiting the school didn't cross any legal lines. He said he doesn't understand what, if anything, his ministers did wrong since they did not conduct worship services, pass out pamphlets or promote any particular church.

"We know what we can do and what we can't do," Shaver said in an interview Tuesday. "We hang out, tell the kids 'We love you -- you're important."'

Eberbaugh referred calls to school board attorney Eric Farris, who said the issue would be discussed and decided by the school board February 17.

Public schools cannot prohibit or endorse religious activities, but students can initiate such activities before or after school or during specified club activity periods.

Lisa Gross, spokeswoman for Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit, said school officials don't have to let any outside groups in during regular school hours. Wilhoit encourages local involvement in the schools, but it must be OK with the superintendent and school board, Gross said.


Tom Mann, a 10-year member of Little Flock Ministry Center, takes part in a protest across the street from the North Bullitt High School.
Policies to keep people or groups off campus have sparked debate elsewhere in the nation, usually when a school district moves to keep only religious organizations or specific religions off campus, said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based civil liberties group involved in church-state litigation.

The law doesn't allow only religious groups to be on campus, but those groups can't be the only ones excluded either, Whitehead said.

"The schools can work this out," Whitehead said. "The approach should be how can we allow access to something the students want that will help them."

Public schools in Jefferson and Fayette counties, two of Kentucky's largest districts, require permission for outside groups to visit campuses during school hours.

Shaver said until the issue is resolved, he plans to continue leading protests by marching outside the schools and the school board office. A stack of black-and-white signs calling Eberbaugh's decision discriminatory were piled in the lobby of the church offices.

If the school board doesn't reverse the superintendent's decision, Shaver said he is considering a lawsuit.

"Public schools are for public involvement," he said.