* To assist the reader, the following Table of Questions
lists the specific questions addressed in Part III.
Go to Questions and Answers..
TABLE OF QUESTIONS ADDRESSED
A. WHO AND WHAT ARE COVERED BY THE ACT?
Q1: Does the Act apply to every public school?
Q2: Who are the "students" referred to in the Act?
Q3: What does it mean to "conduct a meeting"?
Q4: What does the term "religious content of speech" include?
Q5: May student meetings include prayer?
Q6: Are "religious services" permitted during student-initiated meetings?
Q7: Must religious groups be nonsectarian in order to meet under the Act?
Q8: Does the Act require schools to allow cults or hate groups, such as the Nazis or the
Ku Klux Klan, to meet?
Q9: Must the meetings be open to all students?
Q10: What if some students object to other students' meetings?
Ql1: May a school meet the requirements of the Act by allowing religious groups to meet
informally while withholding formal recognition?
B. WHEN IS THE ACT TRIGGERED?
Q12: What triggers the Equal Access Act?
Q13: What is a "limited open forum"?
Q14: Does every public secondary school have a limited open forum? Q15: When has a school
created a limited open forum?
Q16: What is a "noncurriculum related" student group?
Q17: What examples of noncurriculum related student groups did the Supreme Court give?
Q18: Did the Supreme Court give examples of curriculum related student groups?
Q19: Who determines whether student groups are in fact curriculum related?
Q20: What is "noninstructional time"?
Q21: Does noninstructional time include lunch periods, activity periods during the school
day, or other times when students may meet?
Q22: May a school place any restrictions on student meetings in a limited open forum?
C. WHAT DOES NOT VIOLATE THE ACT?
Q23: When has a school fulfilled the requirements of the Equal Access Act?
Q24: What does it mean to say that Section 4071(C) is a "safe harbor" provision
Q25: What does "student-initiated" mean?
Q26: Why is student-initiation of the meetings important? Q27: What is
"sponsorship" of a meeting?
Q28: Why is nonsponsorship of the meeting important?
Q29: Does the assignment of a teacher for custodial purposes constitute sponsorship of the
meeting?
Q30: If school policy requires that each student group have a faculty monitor actively
involved with the group, may the school deny a religious student group permission to meet
because a teacher cannot be actively involved with the group?
Q31: Is it "sponsorship" for a school to allow students to announce meetings
through the school media?
Q32: What does "materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of
educational activities within the school" mean?
Q33: Who are "nonschool persons"?
Q34: Does the Act give nonschool persons a right to attend student meetings?
Q35: May nonschool persons "direct, conduct, control or regularly attend"
student meetings?
Q36: What does "direct, conduct, control or regularly attend" mean? Page 38
D. WHAT IS A SCHOOL NOT AUTHORIZED TO DO?
Q37: Does the Act authorize the school district to influence the form or content of the
religious activity?
Q38: Does the Act authorize the school to require a student or a teacher to participate in
prayer or any religious student activity?
Q39: Does the Act authorize the school to give student groups money to buy religious,
political or philosophical material to use in their meetings?
Q40: Is payment of a monitor at student meetings, including student religious meetings,
permissible?
Q41: May a religious student group engage in fund-raising?
Q42: May the school provide heat, light and janitorial services for the meetings?
Q43: Does the Act authorize a school to require a teacher to supervise a meeting with
which he or she disagrees?
Q44: What if every teacher objects to being present at a particular group's meeting?
Q45: What meetings are "otherwise unlawful"?
Q46: Does the Act protect student religious meetings even if a state statute or state
constitutional provision could be interpreted as prohibiting religious meetings on school
property?
Q47: May a school district specify a numerical size that a student group must attain
before it is allowed to meet under the Act?
Q48: What does the term "to abridge the constitutional rights of any person"
mean?
E. HOW IS THE ACT ENFORCED?
Q49: May federal funds be cut off to a school district that violates the Act?
Q50: What is the remedy under the Act?
F. WHAT AUTHORITY DOES THE SCHOOL RETAIN?
Q51: What authority does the school retain over the student meetings allowed under the
Act?
Q52: If students engage inactivity that substantially or materially disrupts the orderly
conduct of educational activities, claiming that their activity is religious, political or
philosophical, may the school prohibit the activity?
Q53: How may a school administrator determine whether the well-being of students and
faculty needs to be protected?
Q54: How may a school administrator assure that attendance of students at a meeting is
voluntary?
Q55: May a school require parental consent for attendance at meetings?
G. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
Q56: What is a sample policy implementing the Act?
Q57: How long must a student group wait before being given equal access?
Q58: What effect do lower court decisions before Mergens have on the application of the
Equal Access Act?
Q59: What effect does the Mergens decision have on the rental of school facilities to
religious community groups for evening and weekend use?
Q60: What records should a school administrator keep in administering the Act?
Q61: Where may further information be obtained regarding the Act?
Center for Law and Religious Freedom. Copyright 1993 by
Christian Legal Society.
No portion of the material may be copied without prior written approval of the
Christian Legal Society, unless such use is insubstantial, done for review purposes or
meets the standards set under current law.
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