BUZZ
Key Takeaways
- Grand Island High School reversed its earlier decision and allowed student Sabrina Steffans to use her original religious-themed design for her senior parking space after legal intervention.
- Steffans' initial design featuring a cross and religious phrases was initially rejected by school administrators for concerns over potential favoritism of religious symbols.
The New York State high school which denied a student a “personalized” senior-year parking space due to its religious theme has reversed course.
Sabrina Steffans had paid $50 for the Grand Island High School “fun tradition,” but her design — which included a cross, the phrases “God is love” and “He loves you,” and a quote from the Bible’s Gospel of John (pictured) — was turned down by administrators.
Steffans allegedly was told “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.”
Ultimately, Steffans’ third revision, which omitted a reference to Jeremiah 29:11 (but included the phrase “He is King”) was approved by Principal Hillary Kretz-Harvey.
The First Liberty Institute sent a letter to the Grand Island Central School District informing its officials they were violating Steffans’ First Amendment rights.
This past week the district did a 180, allowing Steffans to move forward with her original design.
According to WKBW, Grand Island Superintendent Brian Graham said in a statement that while administrators “strongly dispute any assertion that our policies or decisions violated the rights of any student,” following “careful consultation with legal counsel” it was decided to allow Steffans to use her first submission.
“We will take time in the coming months to review the future of the senior parking space program and will consider whether adjustments to guidelines or practices are warranted to better reflect our goals as a public-school community,” Graham added.
First Liberty Institute attorney Keisha Russell “praised the outcome and noted it did not require lengthy litigation.”
“Other school districts that see the situation may be hesitant to do that without making sure that what they’re doing is actually constitutional,” Russell said.
Steffans said she was “shocked” at the reversal.
I was just really ecstatic to hear it,” Steffans said. “I was kind of freaking out, thinking oh, ‘This is so exciting.’ I got the paints the day of, and I was just so excited to paint and everything.”
She added: “Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you don’t have power to bring change into your schools and into your life.”
