Christian School Accusing Maryland of Religious Discrimination Continues Legal Battle

NEW YORK— In January, Maryland District Judge Stephanie Gallagher denied Bethel Christian Academy’s request to temporarily allow students access to state scholarship funds to attend the private school while their case made its way through courts. The state says the school is failing to meet school voucher non-discrimination requirements, which include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Bethel case illustrates the broader fight that often pits the government and taxpayer-funded programs, like Maryland’s BOOST, with religiously-affiliated schools that adhere to a doctrinal covenant opposing same-sex marriage. The state calls it discrimination, while the school argues that its religious freedom has come under attack. When the state removed Bethel from the BOOST program in 2018, the school sued.

BOOST was first enacted by Maryland’s legislature in 2016 with the goal of giving low-income families the ability to send their children to private schools through scholarship money.

The Maryland grade school, despite the injunction’s denial, plans to continue its fight for reinstatement into the BOOST program. The legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing Bethel, said the state cannot discriminate against their clients because it doesn’t like their Christian beliefs.  

“As this case progresses and evidence comes forward, we will continue to make this point clear,” said Paul Schmitt, a lawyer at ADF.

This case could also impact private religious schools, regardless of faith tradition, across the United States. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 states and the District of Columbia all have school voucher programs. A ruling against Bethel, especially at the circuit or Supreme Court level, could lead to rulings against private religious schools who hold similar beliefs.

Accepted into the program, Bethel had 35 BOOST scholarships used during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years. However, in 2018, Bethel lost its ability to participate in BOOST. According to Gallagher’s ruling, at least nine students departed from Bethel because of its removal from the program. The school says it has affected many more. 

“We know the State’s decision to expel Bethel from the BOOST program has harmed dozens of families,” Schmitt said. ”And we know that some Bethel parents worked multiple jobs to try to keep their kids in the school after the state took away Bethel’s BOOST funding, but ultimately they had to make the hard decision to go to a new school.”

This removal from the program began with a 2018 investigation into Bethel’s non-discrimination policies by BOOST board members. According to investigators, Bethel’s policies did not align with those stipulated by BOOST non-discrimination standards. The main cause of contention for Bethel came from one section in the handbook on student admissions. 

The statements the investigators found troubling included the following from the handbook: “Bethel Christian Academy supports the Biblical view of marriage defined as a covenant ​between one man and one woman,” and that “God immutably bestows gender upon each person at birth as male or female to reflect His ​image.” 

As a result, Bethel was ordered by the board to pay back the money it had taken from the program. The school has yet to pay back a fine of $102,600. 

Protesting the fine, Bethel chose to take legal action against Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Katherine Salmon and seven BOOST advisory board members. The suit, filed on June 24, 2019, charged the board with violating their constitutional rights. Specifically, their rights to freedom of speech, religion, due process and equal protection under the law.

The Trump administration has generally been supportive of religious freedom issues. U.S. Departments of Education and Justice agreed with Bethel. In a statement of interest, filed on November 26, 2019 by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education, expressed support for Bethel. 

“The Department of Justice will continue to fight for the rights of religious people and organizations, whether or not their beliefs are popular with government officials,” said Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. 

Gallagher, in her denial of Bethel’s request for the preliminary injunction, disagreed with both Bethel and the feds. 

“Although [the state of Maryland] ultimately banished Bethel from the program,” Gallagher wrote in her opinion, “Bethel has not proven, with the present record, that the decision was made ‘solely’ based on its religious identity.” 

Gallagher also argued that multiple complications in the case inhibited her from being able to temporarily reinstate Bethel. These complications included a 2019 revision of BOOST standards barring discrimination based on “gender identity or expression.”

“Bethel has not demonstrated that it would satisfy BOOST’s current requirements even if the court were to nullify [the] defendants’ determination from June 2018 regarding Bethel’s eligibility under the original 2017 qualifications,” the judge wrote.

Bethel said it doesn’t believe its polices amount to discrimination or bigotry and cites its student composition in its defense. 

“The state’s accusation is baseless, Bethel is an incredibly diverse school -- over 85% of the student body is made up of racial and ethnic minorities-representing over 40 nations,” Schmitt said. “Bethel accepts all students who meet the school’s rigorous academic requirements and it provides admitted students with a loving and welcoming learning environment.” 

Leif Le Mahieu is a student at Covenant College who is currently taking part in the NYCJ program at The King’s College in New York. He is also an intern this semester at First Things.