A group of Long Island public-high-school students are in heaven today after a federal judge agreed that their Bible club should be treated like any other campus organization.
The principal of Hauppauge High School had refused to sanction the group when it started in 2008, saying the high school was “too secular” to allow it, according to documents in Brooklyn Federal Court.
The students sued, saying their Constitutional rights had been violated.
Now federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis has approved a settlement between both sides that favored the kids.
The court order mandates that the students are entitled to “the same treatment as is afforded other non-curricular clubs.”
The decision gives the group, called “Youth Alive,’’ the right to raise funds and maintain a district-sponsored bank account, post notices on school bulletin boards, distribute fliers and other materials, be included in the school’s yearbook and “participate in club fairs, contests, service projects, and similar events.”
The club will also be granted full “access to announcements over Hauppauge High School’s public address system, e-mails and other methods of communication, access to district-wide communications, access to listings on the school and district websites, [and] access to the school newspaper,” said the decision, which was released late yesterday.
mmaddux@nypost.com