BUZZ
School’s ‘fun tradition’ can’t handle Bible verses, mention of God
A high school student in New York State paid $50 to design her own personalized school parking spot, but her art was denied by school officials due to its religious nature.
According to Decision, Grand Island High School has had a “fun tradition” that permits seniors to “reserve and decorate their parking space” for the $50 fee.
Incoming senior Sabrina Steffans submitted a design “that included a cross, the phrases ‘God is love’ and ‘He loves you,'” along with a quote from the Bible’s Gospel of John (pictured).
But Assistant Principals Adam Hernandez and Jaime Peld (pictured, along with Principal Hillary Kretz-Harvey in center) put the kibosh on Steffans’ submission, allegedly informing her “if we had to approve your cross, we’d have to approve a satanic symbol and [we] wouldn’t want to attend a school like that,” WIVB reports.
The principals also said the submission “would only be acceptable” is Steffans “disguised” the cross as the letter “T.”
Steffans’ resubmission followed Hernandez’s and Peld’s advice — it contained the phrase “let your light shine” with a cross for the letter “T” in “light.” But it also included a reference to the Bible’s Jeremiah 29:11. As such, it too was denied.
Steffans’ third submission, which omitted the Jeremiah reference but included the phrase “He is King,” eventually was approved by Principal Kretz-Harvey.
When Steffans asked why her scripture references on the school’s Bible Club posters had been allowed, she allegedly was told by one of the APs “I just let that one slide.”
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The First Liberty Institute ended up sending a letter to Hernandez, Peld, Kretz-Harvey, and Grand Island Central School District Superintendent Brian Graham, informing them that Steffans’ First Amendment rights had been infringed.
“Any restrictions on expression for the parking space design activity must not discriminate on the basis of viewpoint,” the letter reads. “But here, the school’s denial of Ms. Steffans’ designs containing references to Scripture constitutes viewpoint discrimination because it prohibits specific religious messages while permitting a wide variety of secular speech.”
The letter notes Grand Island’s guidelines for the special parking spots “prohibit only ‘offensive language, pictures or symbols,’ ‘negative or rude language, and ‘gang-style tagging.’” There is nothing banning religious messages.
Principal Kretz-Harvey “represented” that the final (approval) decision was made after “consulting with our district’s legal team,” according to the letter. She said it was within “the guidelines for school-sponsored activities, which include maintaining a neutral stance on religious, political, and ideological content.”
First Liberty notes the First and Fourteenth Amendments prohibit government from abridging private individuals’ freedom of speech and free exercise of religion. Thus, “any restrictions on expression for the parking space design activity must not discriminate on the basis of viewpoint […] the senior parking spot cannot be considered school-sponsored expression.”
The letter requested a reversal of its decision by August 14, the deadline for the parking space activity; however, more time would be granted to “consider the matter” if Steffans was given an extension.
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IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: Exterior of Grand Island High School; Grand Island HS website. INTERIOR IMAGES: Facebook, Audacy.com/X
