Huntington School District Faces Lawsuit Over Handling of Religious Instruction

By Jeff Neumeyer

June 18, 2010 Updated Nov 14, 2008 at 5:44 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, IN (Indiana's NewsCenter) --- The intertwining of religious instruction and public schools can be a volatile combination, and it is now the basis for a federal lawsuit filed against one of the area's bigger school systems.

The parent of a Huntington elementary school student has sued Huntington Community Schools because of a religious education program that the parent believes is a violation of the U-S Constitution.

The mother of an eight-year-old student at Horace Mann Elementary School wants the program shut down.

The suit alleges that the "By the book weekday religious instruction" program, which is voluntary, is still a problem because the classes are held in a mobile trailer that is on school grounds.

The Indiana Civil Liberties Union supplied lawyers to pursue the case.

Leonard Goldstein/Indiana Civil Liberties Union: " The process is legal, as long as you're not on school property. When you're on school property, this is the same as saying, uh, we're sanctioning the teaching of a religion and that's a no-no."

The Superintendent of Huntington Community Schools said he has not seen a copy of the lawsuit, and doesn't want to comment until he does.

Less than a handful of kids at the school have opted out of the religious instruction, and one parent we spoke with said, “we're not a religious family, but I like my child being exposed to this, so she'll be more well rounded.”

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