Authorizes the use of school buildings and school sites for religious meetings and worship when not in use for school purposes

25 Co-sponsors

• John J. Flanagan
• Eric Adams
• John A. DeFrancisco
• Ruben Diaz
• Martin Malavé Dilan
• Adriano Espaillat
• Patrick M. Gallivan
• Joseph A. Griffo
• Mark Grisanti
• Timothy M. Kennedy
• Andrew J. Lanza
• William J. Larkin Jr.
• Tom Libous
• Jack M. Martins
• George D. Maziarz
• Thomas F. O'Mara
• Kevin S. Parker
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer
• Patty Ritchie
• Gustavo Rivera
• Joseph E. Robach
• John L. Sampson
• Malcolm A. Smith
• Catharine Young
• Lee M. Zeldin

BILL NUMBER:S6087A REVISED 01/27/12

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to authorizing religious meetings and worship in school buildings and school sites

Purpose

The purpose of the bill is to authorize the use of school buildings and school sites for religious meetings and worship when not in use for school purposes.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 amends the opening paragraph and paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 414 of the education law, the opening paragraph as amended by chapter 369 of the laws of 1977 and paragraph (c) as amended by chapter 345 of the laws of 2009, are amended to include:

The City of New York and community school boards and;

A provision that prohibits the adoption of restrictions to exclude or limit speech, during non-school hours, including speech that expresses religious conduct or viewpoints.

Justification

This bill would prevent school districts from excluding groups from meeting on school property because of the religious content or viewpoint of their speech, including allowing religious worship services.

Currently, State Education Law allows for social, civic and recreational meetings and entertainment on school property, as well as other uses pertaining to the welfare of the community. State law further holds that such meetings, entertainment and uses shall be nonexclusive and shall be open to the general public. However, certain groups or organizations are not always allowed to hold the types of meetings seemingly envisioned herein, including those with religious content or viewpoints.

For example, several years ago, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the Bronx Household of Faith church ("Bronx Household") ( based in New York city, was not permitted to use space in a Bronx public middle school for its Sunday morning worship service. Since then, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Good News Club vs. Milford central School that it was unconstitutional for a public school district in upstate New York to exclude from its facilities "a private Christian organization for children, and the Supreme Court further held in the Good News Club case that "by denying the club access to the school's limited public forum on the ground that the club was religious in nature, Milford discriminated against the club because of its religious viewpoint in violation of the free speech clause.

In light of Milford, Bronx Household re-petitioned the U.S. appeals court, which again upheld the school's policy banning the use of its

space for religious worship services, reasoning that "While the conduct of religious services undoubtedly includes expressions of a religious point of view, it is not the expression of that point of view that is prohibited by the rule. Prayer, religious expression of devotion to God, and the singing of hymns, whether done by a person or group, do not constitute the conduct of worship services. These activities are not excluded". Groups like Bronx Household should be allowed to hold and conduct such meetings, even in the event that such meetings include religious content or views in their speech, so long as these meetings are open to the general public. Some school districts have excluded groups and have thereby acted to regulate free speech and the conduct of such members of the public, potentially in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the united States. This bill seeks to protect such organizations from these actions.

Legislative history

New.

Fiscal implications

None to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.