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Page Number: 48

12 

OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE SCHOOL v. 
MORRISSEY-BERRU 
SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

schooling in religious pedagogy.  911 F. 3d, at 605.  Biel had 
no such credentials when the school hired her, as she had 
received her bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a teaching 
credential from a public university.  Ibid.  Even after she 
began working at St. James School, Biel’s “only” training in
religious pedagogy was “a single half-day conference where 
topics  ranged  from  the  incorporation  of  religious  themes 
into  lesson  plans  to  techniques  for  teaching  art  classes.” 
Ibid.; see also App. 242–244, 261–263. 

Biel taught her fifth-grade class all its academic subjects,
including English, spelling, reading, literature, mathemat-
ics, science, and social studies.  911 F. 3d, at 605; Excerpts 
of Record in No. 17–55180 (CA9), p. 588.  This also involved 
a standard religion curriculum, which Biel taught for about
30  minutes  four  days  a  week.    911 F. 3d,  at  605.    When 
teaching religion, Biel followed instructions in a workbook 
that the school administration had prescribed.  Ibid.; App.
254–255.  Twice a day, Biel would pray with her students,
but she “did not lead them.”  911 F. 3d, at 605.  Rather, the 
class had student “prayer leaders” and “[t]he prayers that
were  said  in  the  classroom  were  said  mostly  by  the  stu-
dents.”  App to Pet. for Cert. in No. 19–348, at 93a.  As Biel 
explained, she “didn’t need to teach” her students any pray-
ers, either, because “[t]hey already kn[e]w them” and “had
prayer  leaders.”  Ibid.;  contra,  ante,  at  24–25  (asserting
without citation that Biel “taught [her students] prayers”).
Once a month, Biel joined her students in the school’s mul-
tipurpose room for mass, which were always officiated by a
Catholic  priest  or  a  nun.    App. 258.    The  record  does  not 
show  that  Biel  taught  her  students  what  to  do  at  mass. 
Ibid.  Rather, Biel’s “sole responsibility” during liturgy was 
“to keep her class quiet and orderly.”  911 F. 3d, at 605; App. 
258–259. 

Near the end of the school year, Biel learned that she had 
breast cancer and would need surgery and chemotherapy.
Biel informed the school and explained that her condition