Teacher, student feedback received on draft 'religious liberty' policy

The discussions were spurred by Spencer school board members who attended a keynote address delivered by Charles Haynes during the 2007 Iowa Association of School Boards conference held in Des Moines. Haynes, a co-author to "Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools," a First Amendment guide to religion and public education published by the First Amendment Center, told school board members across Iowa the importance of districts having religious liberty policies in place before any kind of an issue would come up.

With Hayne's guide, the "Darwin's Black Box" book by Michael Behe and a handful of community members' insights in hand, Spencer school board members Rev. Barb Van Wyk and David Schlichtemeier drafted an initial policy and presented it to their peers on June 29. That policy has since been rewritten by Superintendent Greg Ebeling.

The district's second draft policy is now making its way through the hands of teachers, students and community members. Following feedback from each of these focus groups, further revisions will be made to the policy before Spencer school board members vote on the first reading of it on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Spencer teachers' perspective on policy

As Ebeling facilitated Wednesday's discussion with eight Spencer teachers, he said defining what "religious liberty" means for the Spencer school district is a conversation that should occur at the local level.

"Because by virtue of having nothing, we really have no guidance in how we handle First Amendment liberties within the school," he said. "Specifically around religious liberty, the one that always becomes a hot bed item when there is some kind of an issue. We have not had an issue within the district that caused us to create this policy -- which is good because we're not reacting to something that has happened and need to figure out how to deal with it. ... The idea is to be proactive and give definitions for what the district can legally do, what we want to do, and makes sense for our community and our school. That's the route we're taking."

"Educators, for the most part, steer away from these issues in public schools and err on the side of caution," he continued. "Probably less so in social studies classrooms, because they tend to have more conversation about those type of things, but most people that I've talked with about this topic said they really don't talk about it that much. So, it's really to say what kind of conversations can happen in school that are OK. ... A school official's position is neutrality. But at the same time, it is OK to talk about it within these certain guidelines."

As SHS teacher Steve Bomgaars reiterated that there is currently no documentation of concerns from faculty, students, parents or community members about this matter, Ebeling said there are anecdotal stories about students telling their peers that they can't bring a Bible to school or they can't pray at school because of separation of church and state.

"We have handled those on a case by case basis," Ebeling said. "It hasn't created a big issue for the district, but a lot of the policies that we have in place weren't created because there was a big controversy in the district."

"In 30 years, I've never heard of any anecdotal stories where anybody thought that there was a question about religion in the schools. That's why I'm kind of surprised we even need a policy like this," Bomgaars replied.

As Ebeling and the teachers then went page by page through the draft policy, Spencer's superintendent restated he wants everybody within the district to know what they can and cannot do, as well as what is within reason and within their individual rights.

"I don't see how having this policy is going to do anything for students," Bomgaars said. "Students aren't going to read this. They don't even read the handbook."

"But it can help teachers educate the kids on what's there and what's not there," Ebeling replied.

"What about some teacher education to where the things that are and aren't allowed are spelled out," SHS teacher David Munson asked. "Because when I look at this -- and this is a far sight better than the first draft that came out -- there's some things that are probably missing. I mean, if you really want to get into what is and isn't allowed, that's a very large document. ... I think there are some things in here that are ambiguous and not enough to the point to where it's really of no benefit. And so, if we're going to do this, or if the purpose is to inform people about what is and isn't allowed, then I think we have some things in here that ... could be spelled out better."

When SHS teacher Jean Fischer added that she still doesn't have an idea of what is and isn't acceptable after reading the new draft religious liberty policy, the teachers' discussion with Ebeling turned into this districtwide conversation could also lead into a more defined guidance for teachers in these areas. When Ebeling said the passage of such a policy could create a new precedent, he then asked the teachers who'd gathered what they feared about such a policy's passage.

"I don't fear a policy; I fear a bad policy," Munson said. "And right now that's what I'm looking at."

As a handful of SHS teachers encouraged more definitions to be positioned throughout, in order to create a less vague policy, it was also agreed that a few segments also need to be more fully fleshed out before it's voted on by board members next month. As they reviewed the graduation exercises segment of the draft in particular, Munson said, "I think this opens up a can of worms."

"You could definitely have a debate whether the policy is necessary or not," Ebeling added. "If the school board doesn't vote for it, it won't become a policy. And, it is what it is at this point in time. ... But if it does get passed by the school board, let's make sure the document is as good as we can possibly make it."

SHS students weigh in on draft policy

A discussion among SHS class officers and student council members over yesterday's lunch hour about Spencer's proposed religious liberty policy began with Ebeling asking those who'd gathered what thoughts occurred when they heard the words "religious liberties."

Matt Wilkerson, the SHS student council vice president, immediately answered, "A religion class."

Ethan Hartkemeyer, the 2009-10 SHS student council president, quickly added, "practicing religion in whatever form."

As the superintendent then told them that this policy was designed to cover their rights, Hartkemeyer informed Ebeling that this is a topic not actively discussed by high school students. When questioned why it wasn't, senior class president Gracie Toale said they'd instinctively learned to keep matters of school and church separate. But Erin Dvorak, the SHS senior class vice president, noted with the introduction of this policy, she might be among those more willing to talk about religion with her friends in the building's hallways.

As Ebeling asked the students to look through the policy and provide written feedback on it over the next couple days, he also encouraged the student body representatives to not be afraid to ask other students for their input on it.

Following the students' discussion, Wilkerson mentioned the opportunity he'd had this past summer to experience policy writing and bill writing firsthand.

"One of the biggest things I learned was you have to be very careful with how you say things, especially when it's in writing and it's going to be made public," he said, further encouraging Ebeling to not only list Christianity in the policy's wording.

"I think it's really important that we define this, though," Hartkemeyer added. "Especially with individual rights and in regard to what you can and cannot do, I guess I saw a need for it the more we talked about the different issues that can come up based off of this subject. Some things I don't really care for (that are currently in the policy) are the distribution of flyers and advertising for events like that. I think that can get distracting from school -- and I just see that as becoming a problem."

* Board-appointed members of the district's School Improvement Advisory Committee will have the opportunity on Tuesday, Sept. 8, to voice their opinions on the draft religious liberty policy. Members of the public are encouraged to do the same during a 7 p.m. meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10, in the district's central administrative offices, located at 23 E. Seventh St.