Six Memphis charter schools agree to morality clause with the Catholic Church in lease
Six Memphis public schools set to open in the fall could face legal trouble after agreeing to a morality clause in a two-year lease for classroom space from the Catholic Diocese of Memphis.
The Compass Community Schools network signed a lease agreement that contains a clause agreeing not to teach anything that goes against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The chairman of the board for the group, John Smarrelli, who is also the president of Christian Brothers University, confirmed the charter group that oversees all six schools signed the lease and agreed to the terms, but declined to provide a copy of the lease.
A public records request is pending for the full agreement.
Smarrelli said the group sees no conflict and plans to teach to the standards set in place by the state Board of Education.
But one First Amendment expert said there are several potential conflicts, including standards that address contraception, and that a public school's mere act of entering into a legal agreement with a religious entity promising to limit its educational offerings for students is unconstitutional.
The clause could also cause a chilling effect on both students and staff and create complications of oversight of a public school by a religious organization, said Charles Haynes, founding director of the Religious Freedom Center..
"A public school is a public school," he said. "It may not in any way be entangled with a religious group that in any way limits what it can and cannot teach. That’s clearly unconstitutional."
The issue also raises questions about the promised separation between the Catholic Church and the Compass schools, a network created by Catholic leaders to replace a group of closing parochial schools. CONTINUE READING: Compass Community Schools agree to morality clause with Catholic Church
