Illinois school district agrees to give Christian clubs equal access, pay more than $105,000 in settlement 

An Illinois school district has agreed to give students in after-school Bible clubs the same access to school facilities and activities as students in secular groups and pay more than $105,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit.

The agreement follows another recent victory for Christian families in Everett, Washington, where school officials agreed to lift restrictions on voluntary Bible classes.

U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow approved the Illinois agreement last week.

Child Evangelism Fellowship of Illinois, which runs Good News Clubs, sued Moline-Coal Valley School District in February. The ministry alleged that district officials charged its clubs to use school facilities while allowing secular groups to meet for free.

The district serves roughly 7,300 students in the Quad Cities region of northwestern Illinois, near the Iowa border.

The district also barred the Christian clubs from sending flyers home with students and participating in Backpack Nights, events where groups share information about their programs with families, according to Liberty Counsel, which represented the ministry.

“Organizations like Boy Scouts and Little League didn’t have to pay these fees and could access Backpack Nights,” the ministry’s lawyers said.

“The First Amendment prohibits public schools from discriminating against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities,” Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver said in a statement.

Under the settlement, the district must revise its policies to give Good News Clubs the same access as comparable nonreligious groups. Officials must follow procedures requiring timely decisions on facility-use requests and allowing appeals. The court can enforce the agreement.

Good News Clubs had access to school facilities and events from 2017 to 2020, before the district imposed the restrictions. The ministry repeatedly sought equal treatment before filing suit.

The clubs offer free, volunteer-led Bible lessons after school. Children need written parental consent to attend.

The organization was also involved in a 2001 Supreme Court case. In Good News Club v. Milford Central School, the court ruled that a school violated the Constitution by excluding a Christian club while allowing other groups to teach moral values on campus. Public schools cannot exclude such clubs simply because they teach from a religious viewpoint.

The Everett case involved a different way for parents to choose Bible instruction for their children.

As Heartlander News reported, LifeWise Academy reached a settlement with Everett Public Schools over restrictions on its program.

LifeWise offers voluntary Bible classes off school grounds during the school day. The program is privately funded and requires parental consent.

The lawsuit challenged rules requiring parents to renew permission weekly. The district also required students to keep Bibles and other LifeWise materials in sealed envelopes inside their backpacks, according to the group’s lawyers.

School officials also excluded LifeWise from community events and flyer displays.

“Parents and students deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of their religious beliefs,” LifeWise CEO Joel Penton said when announcing the settlement.

The Everett agreement requires the district to pay $275,000 in attorney fees, provide religious liberty training for school board members, revise its policies and post a public apology.

“Religious discrimination has no place in public schools,” First Liberty Institute senior counsel Stephanie Taub said in a statement.

Everett’s public apology acknowledges that remarks at school board meetings hurt families who chose LifeWise.

“We further apologize to any students or families that were made to feel by these comments that your religious beliefs are unworthy of respect,” the district wrote.