The complainant indicates that Christian clubs have been going on in this and neighboring elementary schools for years. The area is saturated with intolerant Baptist fundamentalists who would retaliate against complaining families if their identities were known, the complainant indicated. The club is sponsored by two elementary teachers, Mrs. King and Mrs. Wright, and Brenda Sooter, a parent volunteer.
Guest speakers visit the club members to share their experiences with the group.
One such speaker was Robert Blankenship, who raises funds to purchase Christian literature for students in area schools. The Foundation wrote Supt. This is precisely the type of entanglement, involving a coercive proselytization of a captive audience of young school children, which is forbidden under the U.S. Supreme Court and the Arkansas Constitution. The letter pointed out that the federal Equal Access Act, permitting students to form bible clubs in schools under certain circumstances, is restricted to high schools, and explicitly forbids adult leadership. He denied that teachers sponsor the group.