WA School Officials Reprimand 2nd Grader and Search Her Backpack After She Shared Her Faith

Parents of a second-grader in Des Moines, Washington are reportedly outraged after finding out that school officials repeatedly confronted and reprimanded their little girl for discussing her Christian faith with classmates.

Attorneys with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) say the North Hill Elementary School student was sent to the principal's office or confronted by school staff on multiple occasions since the first of the year, for sharing the gospel on the school playground. School staff members also scoured through the young girl's backpack before she was allowed to enter the school one day, in search of religious literature that they oppose. 

The ACLJ says the mother witnessed the inspection of her daughter's backpack one morning after dropping her daughter off and immediately spoke with the school principal. The distressed mother was told that her child was not allowed to hand out certain religious material to students and that it was upsetting other parents.

The ACLJ sent a letter to the school advocating First Amendment rights and how they protect students in public school, with the expectation of an apology for their wrongdoing. Rather, the principal argued that school policy forbids students from distributing material that could, "Cause a disruption or interfere with school activities."

Attorneys pointed out that the Highline School District has a Freedom of Expression policy that restricts students from passing out information that could interrupt school activities "in an assembly or classroom setting" – not outside on the playground. 

"It is abundantly clear that school officials must be able to affirmatively establish that they have a substantial reason to interfere with a student's First Amendment rights, and stating 'because it is upsetting parents' as the reason certainly does not meet this constitutional threshold," ACLJ said in a statement.

North Hill Responds

North Hill's principal said parents were troubled by the young girl asking her classmates if they wanted to talk about Jesus. The administrator's resolution to the matter was to permit the second-grader to talk about her Christian faith as long as other students agreed to the discussion.

CBN News reached out to the school for a comment. Highline Public Schools Chief Communications Officer Catherine Carbone Rogers disputes the ACLJ’s account of what happened. She tells CBN News, “The student was not banned from discussing her Christian faith with classmates, she was asked to invite classmates to talk about her faith and honor their wishes if they chose not to. This came after several students reported being scared by her talk of Satan and Hell, and multiple parents complained about their children coming home with religious pamphlets.”

Rogers told CBN News that the school contends the little girl was also standing dangerously on a playground table while sharing her faith and her words reportedly made other children cry. She says school district staff informed her that she can’t tell other children they’re going to hell and that the little girl must stop distributing what the school considers to be unacceptable religious materials.

'We Must Sometimes Restrict Student Expression'

“As reflected in its policies and procedures, the Highline Public Schools agrees with the core principles raised in the ACLJ letter of governmental neutrality to religion, avoidance of discrimination against religious viewpoints, and allowing students to express themselves at school, including potentially through the distribution of written materials. At the same time, we must sometimes restrict student expression to avoid undue interference or disturbance—especially at the elementary school level,” Rogers stated.

She says the school district is working to protect all the children, noting the child will be allowed to distribute religious materials only if the staff decides they’re appropriate.

But the ACLJ maintains, "The actions of the school officials were particularly egregious in this case because they not only violated this student's rights but also publicly humiliated her. They will not get away with this."

The legal group asserted, "The ACLJ will ensure that this little girl's religious liberties are respected once and for all. We recently sent a Demand Letter to the school; and if the school does not take immediate corrective action, we are ready to file in court if necessary."

Rogers told CBN News that the school district was asked to respond to ACLJ's letter by March 14.

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