Opinion ID: 1147963
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Summation of Facts.

Text: The record and trial court findings clearly establish that a part of the schools involved in this appeal (if not all except the Abiquiu school) were operated as Roman Catholic parochial schools where the Religious taught. The following practices were extant in these schools. School bus schedules were so set that in schools where sectarian religion was taught between the hours of 8:30 and 9:00 in the morning, buses would arrive at 8:30; or, where religious training was given in the afternoon at the end of regular classes, buses did not leave until the conclusion of the thirty minute period of religious instruction. The large majority of pupils were transported by bus and the above outlined procedure was followed in all schools except perhaps two or three which did not have bus service. Non-Catholic children were of necessity required to attend religious instruction and services during inclement weather where the schools did not have a library or assembly room, and even in such schools they were required to be present and hear Roman Catholic prayers. The compulsory school attendance law served as a vehicle for getting the children to school and religious instruction. Catholic literature was distributed by the Religious to the pupils at the public schools. Two sets of free text-books were adopted by the State Board of Education  one for the public schools and the other for Roman Catholic parochial schools  the latter being delivered free of charge to both classes of schools. Many of these schools displayed Roman Catholic religious pictures of various kinds on their walls. A number of the Religious testified they did this or that in connection with religious instruction on the orders of the local priest who, they say, was their religious superior. The Religious who taught in the public schools were selected and assigned to various schools by the heads of their respective Orders and were accepted by the school boards without question. In addition, transfers and substitutions were made at will by the same authority and these were likewise accepted by the boards. Indeed, in this extremely long record involving so many schools in different counties, there is only one instance where a County Board of Education attempted to assert its authority in the selection of a teacher and that was in the Cuba School in Sandoval County. There the board asked the Mother Superior of the Order not to send back the principal of the Cuba School for the coming school year, but requested that two other Sisters be retained there as teachers. The request went unanswered for months but the Mother Superior finally appeared at Cuba, questioned the local resident of the Board, said the complaint against the principal was trivial, that she would not have her Sisters shoved around and if there were any more complaints about her Sisters she would take all of them out of the school. The Sister to whom the Board had objected was returned to the school for the following year and the Sisters the Board had desired to retain were transferred. In short, New Mexico had a Roman Catholic school system supported by public funds within its public school system.