Applying the Equal Access Act.

The federal Equal Access Act came into focus recently for our school district in northeastern Ohio when several high school students asked permission to use the school public address system, school classrooms, school publications, and bulletin boards to promote their religious club activities.

The initial reaction from school officials was to deny the request based on maintaining the separation of church and state. We thought the Equal Access Act did not require the school district to allow this. To do so, we believed, would violate constitutional and state law.

This prompted a detailed review by our board of education of the access act, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Mergens case, and all student clubs in our district. We categorized all clubs as curricular or non-curricular, based on the Supreme Court's criteria.

At Poland High School, we identified as non-curricular the following: Hi-Y, Key Club (sponsored by the local Kiwanis), ski club, boys bowling, and girls bowling. These clubs had been in the school since the 1940s, long before the Equal Access Act. To do away with these surely would cause an uproar in the community.

In the meantime, as the student body became more familiar with the access act and the Mergens case, we suddenly received requests to use the school classrooms, PA, bulletin boards, and yearbook by newly emerging non-curricular student groups such as the Dragsters and HotRods and student organizations on both sides of the abortion issue.

The school board decided to study the matter for 30 days to avoid making any hasty decisions. The board made clear it would not violate anyone's First Amendment rights of free speech and free exercise of religion.

At the same time, the board pointed out it had an obligation under federal law to provide staff supervision of these non-curricular groups if they met on school grounds during the school day. The board realized such staffing could become a union issue and thus a cost issue.

The board also recognized its liability for students meeting in school during the school day, whether for curricular or non-curricular club purposes. No one disputed these factors.

During an open meeting, the board heard all sides on equal access and after careful study adopted a "no open limited forum" policy. The new policy was non-discriminatory in that it prohibited all non-curricular-related student groups from using school facilities during the non-instructional time of the school day. The Equal Access Act defines the school day as any day when school is in session and teachers are required to be on duty.

Our board thus restricted use of school premises during the school day to curricular purposes and curricular-related student clubs. No non-curricular student clubs could meet on school premises during the school day during non-instructional time and these non-curricular clubs were likewise prohibited access to the school PA, yearbook, and bulletin boards.

The board pointed out that nothing in the new policy prevented a non-curriculum-related student group or club from using the board's rental policy that applied to the use of public school facilities after the school day had concluded, so long as the rental use did not interfere with other operational aspects of the schools.

New Arrangement

As part of its new policy on non-curricular clubs, the board also said it would permit all non-curricular school clubs to use a glass-encased bulletin board near the school guidance office for placing announcements of after-school meetings. Such meetings were to be off campus or via rental of school facilities after the end of the school day.

Under this arrangement, the meeting notices could not contain any message inciting violence. They had to be non-discriminatory, could contain no profanity or obscenities, and had to be submitted on 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper.

The announcement had to be submitted to the school guidance counselor, who would initial and date the notice. The counselor's initials indicated only that the counselor had checked for compliance to posting rules. The guidance office secretary then would post the notice. No other notices for non-curricular school clubs could be posted anywhere else on school premises.

The new policy clearly prohibited the old non-curricular clubs from operating as they had in the past. While they still could function, they would have to do so within the parameters of the new policies set for all non-curricular student clubs.