Post by jadedsage on Nov 14, 2004 21:45:49 GMT -5
By The Associated Press
11.08.04
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A $50,000 settlement has been reached in the case of a 14-year-old girl whose parents sued the Union County school system alleging their daughter was harassed for the family's pagan beliefs.
The settlement, which was entered into federal court last month and announced on Nov. 5, marks the end of a civil rights lawsuit brought against the Union County Board of Education in February 2003.
India Tracy was a 14-year-old student at Maynardville's Horace Maynard Middle School when her parents, Greg and Sarajane Tracy, filed the lawsuit on her behalf.
In addition to the money, which the Tracys are to split with their attorney and put toward private school for India, the settlement spells out guidelines for how the school system addresses outside religious events, such as crusades that students attend during school time.
Since 1990, Gary Beeler, a Union County pastor, has been sponsoring such revivals "to provide a safe environment where the people can be presented the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Students who have permission slips signed by their parents receive an excused absence for attending, just as they would under "release time" for a doctor's appointment.
The Tracys said India was being harassed for not attending the annual revival between 1999 and 2001, and that the school system was crossing the line between church and state drawn by the First Amendment.
The family practices paganism, which the Pagan Federation describes as an ancient religious tradition that embraces kinship with nature, positive morality and acknowledges both the female and male side of deity.
The new guidelines — which still must be approved by the board of education — help redraw that line, the Tracys said, as they celebrated with champagne at their attorney's office.
U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan also must approve the settlement.
"Nobody has a problem with people having the freedom to express their religion in the schools," said the family's attorney, Margaret Held. "It's just that in the Tracy case, it crossed the line because the school was sponsoring or at least appearing to sponsor one religion or another."
John Duffy, the attorney who represented the board, contended that the school system did not violate any constitutional rights.
"It is my opinion that the First Amendment would require the Board of Education to allow parents to withdraw their kids from school for a religious holiday or event," Duffy said.
Specifically, the new requirements state that permission slips for the religious events can be handed out only in common areas at the school, not in classrooms. And when the event hires buses that are marked "Union County Schools" to transport students, a sign "that is visible to passers-by" must say who is providing the transportation services and that they are not costing the school system.
Also, school employees who chaperone students to the crusades or other religious events during school hours must wear a name tag saying they are on leave from their job.
Charles Thomas, the superintendent of Union County Public Schools, said the proposed guidelines would not greatly affect the school system.
"I think that really what this settlement will do will solidify our neutrality in this," Thomas said. "I think it's going to call on the organizers of the crusade to do some things that clearly establish they are independent of the school system."
India, who is now 15 and attends a private school in Knox County, says it is hard to believe the case is over.
"It kind of feels weird," she said. "It's just been in my life, and now it's out of my life. I have been through this since I was nine."
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Tennessee pagans claim daughter harassed at school
Parents say Union County school officials tried to have child participate in Christian activities, failed to protect her from physical, verbal abuse. 02.22.03