Oakland School District Must Grant Equal Access to Religious Group Under Settlement

OAKLAND (LN) — A federal judge on Friday approved a settlement and permanent injunction requiring the Oakland Unified School District to grant Child Evangelism Fellowship NorCal equal access to its facilities, resolving a dispute over the district's facility use policies.

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. entered the final judgment following the parties’ joint notice of settlement, finding the terms fair, reasonable, and interest. The court’s order requires the district to provide access to Child Evangelism Fellowship NorCal and its Good News Club on the same terms as similarly situated nonprofit organizations, referencing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Good News Club v. Milford Central School.

The injunction restrains the district from enforcing its written and unwritten facility use policies, including Board Policy 1330 and Administrative Regulation 1330, in a manner that denies the plaintiff equal access under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Under the terms of the injunction, the district must amend its policies to evaluate all applications for facility use using only neutral and objective criteria. These criteria include whether the organization is a nonprofit providing educational or recreational activities under the California Civic Center Act, whether it has timely submitted the appropriate application, whether it charges a fee, and whether it agrees to comply with the Terms of Use.

The district is also required to revise its policies to establish precise time parameters for reviewing applications. Facilities use applications for periods not exceeding 30 days must be approved or disapproved within 30 days of submission.

Applicants denied use of school buildings may appeal to the district superintendent, who must issue a decision within 10 days. Any denial must include a written response outlining the specific reasons for the denial and which neutral criteria were not satisfied.

The permanent injunction governs the district’s treatment of Child Evangelism Fellowship NorCal as long as the challenged policies remain in their current form. The group will be similarly classified in any future revisions or modifications to those provisions.

The court declared Child Evangelism Fellowship NorCal a prevailing party under 42 U.S.C. §1988 and approved the parties’ agreement that the group is entitled to $0.12 million in reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

The judgment resolves all issues raised by the plaintiff, and the clerk is directed to dismiss the complaint with prejudice. The court will retain jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the final judgment.