Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Friday, May 09, 2008
Superintendent saw long odds on religious art lawsuit
Tomah Superintendent Bob Fasbender said there was less than a “50-50 chance” that the school district would prevail in a lawsuit over a classroom policy that bans religious art.
A Thursday hearing before a U.S. District federal judge in Madison was cancelled after Tomah High School art teacher Julie Millin’s grading policy that said “art work that has any violence, blood, sexual connotations, religious belief will not be accepted” was amended. The suit was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of a high school art student who received a zero for including a cross and a Biblical reference in a landscape drawing assignment. The student also tore the policy in front of Millin and other students, which drew two 20-minute detentions.
“Rather than continuing a fight we didn’t feel we had a reasonable chance of winning, we decided to be pro-active,” Fasbender said.
The student sought full academic credit for the drawing and the removal of the detentions from his academic record.
“I’m confident we’ll get all the remaining issues worked out,” said Lori Lubinsky, an attorney representing the school district. “The principal relief they were seeking was the policy, and that policy has been changed.”
Fasbender said the student is likely to get an “A” for the quarter and was allowed to do extra credit to make up for the zero he got on the assignment. He said the detentions have already been served and won’t have any impact on his ability to enter college or get a job. All student disciplinary records are confidential and aren’t part of any document that a college or employer is allowed to see.
“Any discipline a student receives isn’t a public record,” Fasbender said. “The only reason anyone knows about the detention is because they released it.”
Fasbender defended Millin and the art department.
“We still believe that students have to follow the directions of their teachers,” Fasbender said. “The assignment was a landscape — draw the landscape. You don’t draw John 3:16 in the clouds.”
The case received national publicity, especially in conservative media outlets. Some Tomah School Board members were called at their homes, and Fasbender said the district has gotten “300 to 400 e-mails” concerning the dispute. Fasbender described
See Lawsuit, page 8A
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