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School
Florida Atlantic University *
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Course
3506
Subject
History
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
1
Uploaded by naxap0onu1
Overview-
Westside High School, in District 66, located in Omaha, Nebraska, refused to allow a group of students to form a Christian Bible Study Club within their school. Bridget Mergens is the name of the student who
initiated the process to start the club. She was a senior at the time. It was decided that the club could not take place because they would not allow a staff member to sponsor it (staff sponsoring was required). The students argued that the district's decision was in violation of the federal Equal Access Act requiring that groups seeking to express messages containing "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" not be denied the ability to form clubs.
Parties involved-
Bridget Mergens a senior at Westside High school in Omaha Nebraska, who was the one to ask her homeroom teacher to start a Christian club.
Wayne W. Meier, the president of the school board; James E. Findley, the principal of Westside High School; Kenneth K. Hanson, the superintendent of schools for the school district; and James A. Tangdell, the associate superintendent of schools for the school district.
Facts of the Case- The school administration at Westside High School denied permission to a group of students to form a Christian club with the same privileges and meeting terms as other Westside after-school student clubs. In addition to citing the Establishment Clause
, Westside refused the club's formation because it lacked a
faculty sponsor. When the school board upheld the administration's denial, Mergens and several other students sued. The students alleged that Westside's refusal violated the Equal Access Act
, which requires that schools in receipt of federal funds provide "equal access" to student groups seeking to express "religious, political, philosophical, or other content" messages. On appeal from an adverse District Court ruling, the Court of Appeals found in favor of the students. Mergens argument is according
to the equal access act student have the right to create a club despite religious or political views. Westsides argument is the rejected the request to form a club because it lacked a faculty sponsor, and if
they did have on, if would endorse religion in school.
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