Reply to SSL Hours for Religious Activities and the First Amendment

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Reply to "SSL Hours for Religious Activities and the First Amendment"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are new to MCPS and are trying to get the lay of the land for SSL hours.  Our Sunday school has HS kids volunteering as aids with classes for younger children my daughter was interested in doing that to fulfill her SSL hours.

But, it seems like this would not be allowed under MCPS policy, see below.

Has anyone attempted to challenge that/sought an exemption within MCPS or outside of MCPS?

It looks like you can earn hours for assisting with a chess camp, nature program, sports program, basically anything but a religious program.

How does this not create a free exercise problem?  When MCPS rents out buildings after hours, they aren't allowed to prohibit religious groups from renting; they have to offer them on the same terms they offer any other entity.

I don't see how allowing this would create an establishment clause problem because it is not MCPS choosing or endorsing the activity, any more than it is MCPS endorsing a nature group.  It would be the student choosing to volunteer in a religious setting and students would have the option to volunteer for activities of any religion, or no religion at all.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/ssl/pages/faq/#:~:text=SSL%20hours%20are%20awarded%20only,the%20furtherance%20of%20religious%20tradition.

Can SSL hours be earned by acting as a class/teacher aide in a congregationally-based program, including tutoring/teaching a foreign language?
Generally not, SSL hours are awarded only in the context of an educational setting whose purpose is secular, not religious or faith-based. Tutoring or classroom assistance does not qualify for SSL in congregational programs whose curriculum focuses on instruction (or language instruction) for the purpose of the furtherance of religious observance.[/quote]

Building rentals are managed through the county not the school and come at a fee.[/quote]

The school is part of the county government.  And what does the fee have to do with anything?[/quote]

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