This.
Knowing full well that they'll probably get some initial wins at the county level, it will take 2-3 years for the students/parents to win on appeal, by which time they'll be long-gone from the school, and the social momentum to start again once it's settled will probably dissipate, delivering a Pyrrhic victory to those directly involved now.
Think about this for a moment when a parent might have 2-3 kids 3-4 years apart...
In any case, it seems like a slam dunk case.
1. They've been doing it for a while and they're only cracking down now.
2. The parents have successfully made it about religion, which raises the bar
3. Doesn't a fair bit of this amount to parents feeding their own kids and their friends?
4. This is likely to spread beyond the school.
Even the more liberal judges will have a hard time justifying finding for a school who's officials are stupid enough to send out an email trying to shut down the picnics citing
campus policy when the event is taking place
off campus.
“We believe that religious or political events do not have a place in our school or on our campus, except when sponsored by a student group in accordance with our rules, which require prior approval,” the pair wrote in an email sent to parents on April 12.
Off campus, you numb-nuts
“The policies in question include food handling, visitors to campus, and expectations around student organized events,” the administrators wrote. “We are in no way interested in opposing religious practice in otherwise legal circumstances.”
Odd, nobody's visiting campus for this, and it's not a student organized event. It's a parent organized one.
“Food of any kind that is served to students must be approved by the school/district to ensure food safety, cleanliness and health,” they wrote. “In addition, many students are subject to food allergies, so additional protocols must be followed to safeguard students with these conditions.”
Hm... my brother hasn't had inspectors around to check up on what he's serving to his kids at home...