White County High School Peers Rising In Diverse Education (PRIDE) v. White County School District, No. 06-29 (D. Ga. July 14, 2006)
A Georgia federal district court has granted a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club a permanent injunction to prevent White County High School (WCHS) from barring the group meeting at school. The court concluded that the decision to bar the GSA, along with certain other student groups, violated the federal Equal Access Act (EAA). As a result, it enjoined WCHS officials from denying the GSA equal access or a fair opportunity to conduct meetings on school premises during noninstructional time and from discriminating against student groups on the basis of religious, political, philosophical, or other content of speech. When the GSA initially sought formal recognition from Principal Bryan Dorsey during the 2004-2005 school year to create a "safe ground" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who experienced bullying at school, it met opposition both within the school and in the community. Mr. Dorsey denied the initial request but approved the group after it adopted the name "PRIDE" and reworked its mission statement to encompass bullying and harassment of all students for whatever reason. However, during a school board meeting in March 2005, he recommended restricting student clubs and organizations to those related to curricula and school programs. After a board committee studied student clubs, it agreed with his recommendation. Mr. Dorsey decided that four clubs, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Key Club, Interact Club, and PRIDE, were noncurriculum related and would not be permitted to meet during the 2005-2006 school year. Members of PRIDE sued, alleging the decision was motivated by a desire to ban PRIDE, in violation of their rights under the EAA and the state and federal constitutions. Because the court decided the merits of the EAA claim, it did not consider the state and federal constitutional claims.
The court pointed out that in order for PRIDE to succeed in its EEA claim, it must show that WCHS had created a "limited open forum" within the meaning of EAA. Under EAA a "limited open forum" exists whenever a public secondary school "grants an offering to or opportunity for one or more noncurriculum related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time." PRIDE argued that seven student groups identified as curriculum related and still allowed to meet on campus actually were noncurriculum-related, triggering EEA protections for PRIDE. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court in Board of Education of Westside Community Schools v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226, 236 (1990), the district court noted that while WCHS has the burden of proving the groups are curriculum related, PRIDE has the burden of showing the groups actually meet on school grounds. The court noted that Mergens rejected the argument that "’curriculum related’ means ‘anything remotely related to abstract educational goals,’ as such definition would ‘render the [EAA] merely hortatory’ and ‘permit[] schools to evade the [EAA] by strategically describing existing student groups.’" After reviewing the purpose, make up, and operation of each of the seven clubs, the district court found that all met on school grounds and six of seven were, in fact, noncurriculum-related. Curriculum relatedness turns on whether the clubs relate to specific academic courses offered by the school, the court noted, reasoning that the language in Mergens that clubs also may relate to the "body of courses as a whole" also specifically concerns academics. Although it had no occasion to rule on the question, the court repeatedly speculated as to whether athletic teams are noncurriculum related within the meaning of EEA and may trigger its provisions.
White County High School Peers Rising In Diverse Education (PRIDE) v. White County School District, No. 06-29 (D. Ga. July 14, 2006)
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