Court Rules in Favor of Student Who Wanted to Invite Classmates to Church Event
By: laurie monteforte
Updated: March 13, 2013
Monroe County-A U.S. Appeals Court panel ruled a fifth grader from Barrett Elementary School should have been allowed to give out invitations to her church Christmas party.
In 2010 a fifth grader wanted to invite classmates to a Christmas party at Innovation Church in Cresco.
"Its just a really fun time where we welcome the kids but we also try to let them know that, you know, learning about God can be fun but it's also very relevant to who they are today." said Dawn Kollar, Children's Pastor at Innovation Church
But the Pocono Mountain School District rejected the girl's request to hand out invitations in school at Barrett Elementary.
"The actual invitation was a flyer so it was probably a quarter of a sheet of paper." said Kollar
Her parents took the dispute to court.
After one court ruled on a preliminary decision in the girl's favor - the school district appealed.
This week the U.S. Appeals Court upheld the decision.
The ruling said giving invitations to church events won't cause "substantial disruption."
Charles Kollar is the pastor of Innovation Church.
He noted the church wasn't involved in the lawsuit in anyway - but he is proud of the girl for sharing her faith.
"It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Sometimes you feel you have no choice because you feel that something is unfair and you have to do something about it." said Charles Kollar, Pastor Innovation Church
The Pastor said it makes sense that if kids can pass out invites to other events, they should also be allowed to invite friends to church.
"I would rather have everything than nothing. I'd rather have our children exposed to all kinds of opportunities and invitiations." noted Pastor Kollar
He hopes all schools will continue to allow students to invite their friends to all sorts of events.
"Separation of church and state was meant initially to mean that the united states government would not have a Church of America, you know, like a Church of England." noted Kollar.
Eyewitness News attempted to reach the girl's family without success.
The school district spokesperson, Wendy Frable sent us this statement.
"The District Administration is disappointed in the decision. We are still not sure why flyers advertising off-campus events would be considered a free speech issue instead of a solicitation issue, but that seems to be what the judges have determined."
"the district administration is disappointed in the decision. We are still not sure why flyers advertising off-campus events would be considered a free speech issue instead of a solicitation issue, but that seems to be what the judges have determined."
In 2010 a fifth grader wanted to invite classmates to a Christmas party at Innovation Church in Cresco.
"Its just a really fun time where we welcome the kids but we also try to let them know that, you know, learning about God can be fun but it's also very relevant to who they are today." said Dawn Kollar, Children's Pastor at Innovation Church
But the Pocono Mountain School District rejected the girl's request to hand out invitations in school at Barrett Elementary.
"The actual invitation was a flyer so it was probably a quarter of a sheet of paper." said Kollar
Her parents took the dispute to court.
After one court ruled on a preliminary decision in the girl's favor - the school district appealed.
This week the U.S. Appeals Court upheld the decision.
The ruling said giving invitations to church events won't cause "substantial disruption."
Charles Kollar is the pastor of Innovation Church.
He noted the church wasn't involved in the lawsuit in anyway - but he is proud of the girl for sharing her faith.
"It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease. Sometimes you feel you have no choice because you feel that something is unfair and you have to do something about it." said Charles Kollar, Pastor Innovation Church
The Pastor said it makes sense that if kids can pass out invites to other events, they should also be allowed to invite friends to church.
"I would rather have everything than nothing. I'd rather have our children exposed to all kinds of opportunities and invitiations." noted Pastor Kollar
He hopes all schools will continue to allow students to invite their friends to all sorts of events.
"Separation of church and state was meant initially to mean that the united states government would not have a Church of America, you know, like a Church of England." noted Kollar.
Eyewitness News attempted to reach the girl's family without success.
The school district spokesperson, Wendy Frable sent us this statement.
"The District Administration is disappointed in the decision. We are still not sure why flyers advertising off-campus events would be considered a free speech issue instead of a solicitation issue, but that seems to be what the judges have determined."
"the district administration is disappointed in the decision. We are still not sure why flyers advertising off-campus events would be considered a free speech issue instead of a solicitation issue, but that seems to be what the judges have determined."
