Christian Sports School Suit Settled

A school district that put restrictions on a Christian sports group has agreed in a federal court settlement to give it the same privileges as other student groups.
The Pleasanton school district in eastern Kansas had been accused of refusing to let the Fellowship of Christian Athletes use school facilities for free, use school vehicles, appear in the yearbook or raise money on school grounds in 2005 because of its religious affiliation.
In one case, the district tried to charge the group a fee to hold a rally on school property.
The deal was reached late last week in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. An injunction in January had ordered the district not to discriminate against the club.
Terrelle A. Mock, attorney for the district, had argued in January that the club could not be a school-sanctioned student group because it wasn't curriculum-based. She said neither she nor district officials would comment on the settlement.
Kristie McKee, the mother of three students in the district, brought the lawsuit.
"To give credit to the school district, they thought they were following the law," said Joel L. Oster, attorney for the students. "After we won the injunction, they said, 'If that's what the law is, then that's what the law is.'"
A spokesman for the Kansas City-based group said the organization seldom has problems with school districts.
"This was a pretty rare case, so it did surprise me, but we also knew how it would come out," spokesman Tom Rogeberg said Thursday.
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