A fourth-grade girl and her mother sued the Liverpool Central School District on Thursday, claiming the district is violating the girl's free-speech rights by not letting her distribute a flier about Jesus.
Nicole Martin and her 9-year-old daughter, Michaela Bloodgood, claim in the federal lawsuit the district's policy on distributing literature allows administrators to discriminate based on whether they agree with the author's viewpoint.
The district refused to let Michaela hand out the "personal statement" flier entitled "Jesus Saves," because it was "proselytizing material," according to a letter from Kevin Nuzzo, assistant to Superintendent Janice Matousek.
Michaela wanted to give the flier to her friends at Nate Perry Elementary School during non-instructional periods, the suit said.
"Under the circumstances, there is a high possibility for
both the children and their parents to mistakenly conclude that the school district endorses and fosters any proselytizing materials that it permits students to distribute on school grounds during the school day," Nuzzo said in a letter to Martin in May.
School district officials could not be reached for comment.
Martin said her daughter wanted to tell other students how to be born again and that they needed to accept Jesus as their savior if they wanted to go to heaven.
The flier was Michaela's idea, her mother said.
When Michaela got turned down a year ago, she asked her teacher if she could hand out a religious tract about the satanic origins of Halloween, Martin said.
"The teacher said, 'Never bring these to school again. If you do, you're going to be in big trouble,' " Martin said.
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Nicole Martin and her 9-year-old daughter, Michaela Bloodgood, claim in the federal lawsuit the district's policy on distributing literature allows administrators to discriminate based on whether they agree with the author's viewpoint.
The district refused to let Michaela hand out the "personal statement" flier entitled "Jesus Saves," because it was "proselytizing material," according to a letter from Kevin Nuzzo, assistant to Superintendent Janice Matousek.
Michaela wanted to give the flier to her friends at Nate Perry Elementary School during non-instructional periods, the suit said.
"Under the circumstances, there is a high possibility for
both the children and their parents to mistakenly conclude that the school district endorses and fosters any proselytizing materials that it permits students to distribute on school grounds during the school day," Nuzzo said in a letter to Martin in May.
School district officials could not be reached for comment.
Martin said her daughter wanted to tell other students how to be born again and that they needed to accept Jesus as their savior if they wanted to go to heaven.
The flier was Michaela's idea, her mother said.
When Michaela got turned down a year ago, she asked her teacher if she could hand out a religious tract about the satanic origins of Halloween, Martin said.
"The teacher said, 'Never bring these to school again. If you do, you're going to be in big trouble,' " Martin said.
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