Christian group sues Hawaii's education department for blocking its after-school club from public schools

A Christian club organization filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Hawai'i State Department of Education, accusing education officials of blocking it from operating after-school clubs in several public school districts.

In 2022 and 2023, the Child Evangelism Fellowship of Hawaii attempted to register its Good News Club with several schools across the state. The group decided to take legal action after the HIDOE repeatedly denied its application requests and "either expressly or effectively denied every appeal," according to the lawsuit.

The CEF alleges that the HIDOE discriminated against the club because of its religious affiliation while it allows other similar, non-religious clubs to operate. The lawsuit stated that one school even sent a letter to the CEF stating that its club could not be approved because it is religious.

"For nearly two years, Defendants have blocked CEF from hosting its elementary school Good News Clubs in certain District facilities that are open to other, similarly situated non-religious organizations," the complaint states. "Defendants' policies of unequal access, pretextual denials, and hostility to CEF's religious message violate the Constitution and have denied some Hawaii elementary school students access to free, positive, and character-building Good News Clubs that enrich countless students' lives in other Hawaii schools and throughout the country."

The Good News Club is a weekly elementary school Bible club that aims to help local "churches to reach lost children and their families with the Gospel," according to the CEF's website.

"Here in Hawaii, the law says that after the school day is complete, every public school is considered a public use facility," a CEF flyer explaining its club states. "This essentially means that any organization can use space at any public school once the school day is over."

A 2001 Supreme Court ruling declared that "if a school opens its campus after school hours for any organization, they have to open them for all organizations," the CEF added.

A press release from Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit litigation organization representing CEF, stated that by denying the CEF's request to host its club on public school campuses, the HIDOE had violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments, state laws, and school discrimination policies.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver stated, "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public schools cannot discriminate against Christian viewpoints regarding use of school facilities. Child Evangelism Fellowship gives children a biblically based education that includes moral and character development. Good News Clubs should be in every public elementary school and that includes in these Hawaii schools."

The HIDOE did not respond to a request for comment, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

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