An unconstitutional tie-up between a Wisconsin school district and a parochial preschool has been nixed following an FFRF complaint.
In Beaver Dam Unified School District, 3-year-old public school students with developmental delays were often being sent to private preschools. FFRF’s complainant, who has an eligible child, was offered only one choice: a Catholic school, St. Katharine’s, whose preschool is named God’s Little Miracles. To quote the school itself, its “program is based on the theme ‘Thank you, God.’ ”
“It is wildly inappropriate for the School District to send 3-year-old public school students to private schools for religious instruction,” FFRF Legal Fellow Ryan Jayne wrote in June to Stephen Vessey, superintendent of the Beaver Dam Unified School District.
The School District investigated the situation and told St. Katharine’s what it would have to do to comply with the law and district policy. St. Katharine’s decided to stop participating altogether in the 3K program rather than make any changes, revealing that religious instruction was its primary goal.
“After being advised of the changes that would have to be made to the 3K program, [St. Katharine Drexel] School indicated it no longer wished to provide the Early Childhood (3K) program to district students, and the district has accepted the school’s withdrawal from participating in the program,” Vessey recently replied. “Any students who were enrolled in the school’s Early Childhood program by the district for the coming school year have since been moved to a program offered at a different site.”
