Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
In an outrageous over-reaction to a first-grader reading Bible verses aloud during lunch hour, a public school in Palmdale, California actually sent the local sheriff to the child’s house to warn the boy’s parents to stop encouraging him to do so.
Fox News’ Todd Starnes is reporting on the episode concerning Desert Rose Elementary School where the seven year-old son of Christina and Jaime Zavala was in the practice of reading aloud a Bible verse that his mother slipped into his lunch bag every day. The child read the verses to his schoolmates at the lunch table and, before long, the other students were asking for copies. Mrs. Zavala obliged and also began including a brief note to explain the daily Bible verse.
However, on April 18 a teacher called Mrs. Zavala to say her son was no longer allowed to “share such things while at school.” He would only be allowed to distribute the Bible verses outside the school gate after the bell rang. The reason they cited for this gross violation of the child’s rights was “separation of church and state.”
The Zavala’s complied with the school’s request, but it didn’t end there.
On May 9, the school’s principal implemented a complete ban on Bible verse sharing. The boy was forbidden to hand out notes with Bible verses because it was “against school policy.” The Zavala’s were told that in order to hand out the verses, the boy and his father would have to move to the public sidewalk.
Once again, the Zavala’s complied.
A few hours later, there was a knock on the door of the Zavala family home. They opened the door to find the Palmdale deputy sheriff on their front porch.
“The deputy sheriff said he had been sent by the school,” Liberty Counsel attorney Richard Mast told Starnes. “The deputy went on to tell the parents that the school was worried that someone might be offended by the Bible verses.”
Liberty Counsel said the deputy sheriff was not belligerent or threatening and the family was not served with any legal documents. It was just a “friendly” warning.
“It was outrageous and should shock the conscious of every freedom-loving American,” said Horatio Mihet, the Liberty Counsel attorney who is now representing the child. “Apparently all the real criminals have been dealt with in Palmdale – and now they’re going after kids who share Bible verses during lunch time.”
When Starnes reached out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, no one returned his calls.
In response to the controversy, the superintendent of Palmdale School District, Raul Maldonado, told Starnes they were reviewing the matter and consulting with legal counsel.
“I can confirm the District’s understanding that a member of the Sheriff’s department visited the home,” Maldonado said. “However, the District is not yet clear as to the specific nature of that engagement.”
He did not respond to questions about who ordered the deputy sheriff to visit the child’s home or why the visit was necessary – especially since the family complied with the school’s directives, Starnes reports.
Instead, Maldonado insisted that “The District remains committed to ensuring an environment where all students, regardless of religious affiliation or belief, are free to learn and reach their full potential.”
Except for Christians who like to live their faith in public.
For good reason, Starnes called Maldonado’s statement “a load of hooey.”
“It appears to me that the deputy sheriff was dispatched to the home as part of a strategy to intimidate the Zavala family,” Starnes writes.
Mihet agrees. “I would expect something like this to happen in Communist Romania – where I went to elementary school – but cops don’t bully 7-year-olds who want to talk about Jesus in the Land of the Free.”
As Mihet points out, students are not required to check their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.
“If students are permitted to pass out Valentine or birthday cards at school or to talk about Superman and Captain America at lunch, they cannot be prohibited from sharing Bible verses and discussing their faith during their free, non-instructional time,” Mihet said.
As a result of the incident, Liberty Counsel is demanding that the school stop its policy of suppressing and censoring student religious speech. If they fail to comply, the school could face a federal lawsuit.
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