ICC Note: A school district in California has agreed to refund thousands of dollars of fees charged to a Christian club for the use of its facilities. The school’s policy of charging for facility use appeared to apply only to Christian clubs, even as secular clubs were allowed to use the school for free. The reversal of the decision comes after the school was confronted by a religious liberty organization that pointed out the policy was discriminatory. Americans have become increasingly aware of efforts around the country in recent years to remove all traces of Christianity from the public sphere, especially in the education system. 
1/1/2013 United States (Christian Post) – A California school district has reversed its decision to charge a Christian organization thousands of dollars to use the district’s facilities for children’s club meetings, even while other clubs use the facilities for free.
The Turlock Unified School District (TUSD) will no longer charge Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) for facility use and has refunded the “improperly assessed fees,” according to a press release from Liberty Counsel. The total amount of said fees was $5,295, with $1,200 in security deposits that were already paid.
Initially, a CEF coordinator met with the TUSD assistant superintendent, who reportedly said the school board can decide which groups must pay the fees.
CEF contacted Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit legal organization that seeks to protect religious liberty, which examined the district’s policies and found no justification for TUSD treating the ministry differently than other groups. Liberty Counsel then sent a letter to the district seeking equal treatment for CEF, and the district responded by dropping the fees and refunding the organization’s money.
“Imposing a financial barrier based on the religious viewpoint violates the right to free speech and hurts children,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, in a statement. “The Turlock Unified School District cannot treat Christian groups as a second-class by requiring them to pay prohibitive fees to use the same public facilities at the same time and for the same activities as nonreligious groups which are granted free access.”
TUSD Superintendent Sonny H. Da Marto said the district could not comment on the situation due to “potential litigation,” his administrative assistant told The Christian Post.
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