SUMMARY--Clarifies provision regarding prohibition of nonsecular activities in public schools. (BDR 34-1727)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
EXPLANATION - Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to public schools; clarifying provision regarding the prohibition of nonsecular activities in public schools; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Whereas, The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion, as does section 4 of article 1 of the Nevada constitution; and
Whereas, The Equal Access Act enacted by Congress in 1984 was designed to ensure that, consistent with the First Amendment, religious activities by pupils are accorded the same access to public school facilities as are any other nonreligious activities by the pupils; and
Whereas, The provisions of article 11 of the Nevada constitution that prohibit sectarian instruction in the common schools and universities in this state and prohibit the expenditure of public money for sectarian purpose must be considered together with the aforementioned constitutional guarantees of free religious expression; and
Whereas, In 1993, Congress passed and President Clinton approved the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to reverse a 1990 decision by the United States Supreme Court and restore the rule that the government may restrict religious freedom only in narrow and rare circumstances and only for compelling reasons; and
Whereas, On July 12, 1995, in remarks regarding religious liberty in this country, President Clinton said that some school officials, teachers and parents incorrectly "believe that the Constitution forbids any religious expression at all in public schools" even though our courts have made it clear that religious expression must not be denied as long as it is not sponsored by school officials and it does not interfere with the rights of the other pupils; and
Whereas, Because of the continued misinterpretation of the Constitution as it relates to the voluntary expression of religion by pupils in their art projects, homework assignments, class presentations, clothing and extracurricular clubs, President Clinton directed the Secretary of Education and the Attorney General to provide every school district in America with a statement of principles addressing the extent to which religious expression and activity are permitted in our public schools; and
Whereas, On August 10, 1995, such a statement of principles was issued with a statement from the Secretary of Education that reminded the local school superintendents of two basic and equally important obligations on public school administrators in their dealings with religion: First, that public schools may not forbid pupils who are acting on their own from expressing their personal religious views or beliefs solely because they are of a religious nature, but must instead give pupils the same right to engage in religious activity and discussion as they have to engage in other comparable nonreligious activity; and secondly, that schools may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity or allow the religious expression by one pupil to unreasonably interfere with the activity of others; and
Whereas, The Secretary of Education acknowledged that the implementation of these principles by school administrators must depend on their careful application of the principles to each specific factual situation based on a full understanding of the relevant constitutional and statutory obligations; now, therefore,
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1 NRS 388.150 is hereby amended to read as follows:
388.1501. No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian or denominational character [shall] may be used or introduced in any public school established under the provisions of this Title of NRS, nor [shall] may any sectarian or denominational doctrines be taught in any public school.
2. Any school district whose officers knowingly allow any public schools to be taught in violation of this section forfeits all right to any public school funds.
3. Nothing in this section:
(a) Prohibits a school district from complying with applicable federal laws, such as the Equal Access Act (20 U.S.C. §§ 4071 et seq.) or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. § 2000bb); or
(b) Requires a school district to administer rules that discriminate against or discourage voluntary religious activity or speech by pupils on school property.