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Lauren Hawthorne
EDU 210
A kindergarten teacher, named Karen White, told her students and their parents that she
could not continue to lead activities or do projects that she deemed religious in nature. This is
due to her new association with Jehovahs Witnesses. She could no longer decorate the
classroom for holidays, plan for gift exchanges during Christmas, sing Happy Birthday, or say
the Pledge of Allegiance. Parents were unhappy so the principal recommended she be dismissed
Helland v. South Bend Community School Corp. (1996) supports the principals
dismissal of the teacher. In this case a teacher was removed from a substitute teacher list for
projecting his religious beliefs in elementary schools. He was justly removed in order to avoid
establishment clause problems. Similarly, the teacher from the scenario would also be projecting
her beliefs by refusing to do certain activities and duties. Based on this case, Whites dismissal
would be justified. The students would miss out on some activities because of the projection of
I believe the court would rule in favor of the principal. Although it may seem like
discrimination based on religion, the teacher is projecting her own religious beliefs in the
classroom from her refusal to participate in certain activities. This could result in establishment
clause issues. The students would also be unable to partake in certain curricular activities due to
the religious beliefs of their teacher rather than their own beliefs.
Artifact 6: Religion and Public Schools 3
References
Helland v. South Bend Community School Corp., 93 F.3d 327 (7th Cir. 1996)