We often receive Emails from students in public high schools who want to organize a Bible study club on their campus. Many have met opposition from their school administration who refuses to permit any student-organized, student-led religious groups in their school. Since the conflicts and the solutions at each school are very similar, we decided to post this generic essay. This is much simpler than writing a custom Email in response to each request.
Rejection by school administrations is not restricted to Bible clubs. Stamp clubs, chess clubs, model railroad clubs, astronomy clubs seem to have little difficulty obtaining permission to organize. However, students often experience opposition from the school administration if they want to organize a club that has even the slightest tinge of controversy. Many school officials mistakenly believe that the principle of separation of church and state requires that public schools be religion-free zones. This is not true. The same First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that requires separation of church and state also requires that students enjoy freedom of religious speech and religious assembly.