First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...

Utah State Constitution - Article I, Section 1

All men have the inherent and inalienable right .... to worship according to the dictates of their consciences ...

Utah State Constitution - Article I, Section 4

[i] The rights of conscience shall never be infringed. [ii] The State shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; [iii] no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office of public trust or for any vote at any election; [iv] nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror on account of religious belief or the absence thereof. [v] There shall be no union of Church and State, nor shall any church dominate the State or interfere with its functions. [vi] No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or for the support of any ecclesiastical establishment. [vii] No property qualification shall be required of any person to vote, or hold office, except as provided in this Constitution.

Utah State Constitution - Article III

First: -- Perfect toleration of religious sentiment is guaranteed. No inhabitant of this State shall ever be molested in person or property on account of his or her mode of religious worship; but polygamous or plural marriages are forever prohibited.

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Fourth: --The Legislature shall make laws for the establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools, which shall be open to all the children of the State and be free from sectarian control.

Utah State Constitution - Article X, Section 9

Neither the state of Utah nor its political subdivisions may make any appropriation for the direct support of any school or educational institution controlled by any religious organization.

Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-13-101

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(4) ...[R]espect for and an understanding of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions of the United States and the state of Utah ... shall be taught in connection with regular school work,

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(6) Except as provided in Section 53A-13-101.1, political, atheistic, sectarian, religious, or denominational doctrine may not be taught in the public schools.

Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-13-101.1

(1) Any instructional activity, performance, or display which includes examination of or presentations about religion, political or religious thought or expression, or the influence thereof on music, art, literature, law, politics, history, or any other element of the curriculum, including the comparative study of religions, which is designed to achieve secular educational objectives included within the context of a course or activity and conducted in accordance with applicable rules of the state and local boards of education, may be undertaken in the public schools.

(2) No aspect of cultural heritage, political theory, moral theory, or societal value shall be included within or excluded from public school curricula for the primary reason that it affirms, ignores, or denies religious belief, religious doctrine, a religious sect, or the existence of a spiritual realm or supreme being.

(3) Public schools may not sponsor prayer or religious devotionals.

(4) School officials and employees may not use their positions to endorse, promote, or disparage a particular religious, denominational, sectarian, agnostic, or atheistic belief or viewpoint.

Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-13-101.2

(1) If a parent with legal custody or other legal guardian of a student, or a secondary student, determines that the student's participation in a portion of the curriculum or in an activity would require the student to affirm or deny a religious belief or right of conscience, or engage or refrain from engaging in a practice forbidden or required in the exercise of a religious right or right of conscience, the parent, guardian, or student may request:

(a) a waiver of the requirement to participate; or

(b) a reasonable alternative that requires reasonably equivalent performance by the student of the secular objectives of the curriculum or activity in question.

(2) The school shall promptly notify a student's parent or guardian if the student makes a request under Subsection (1).

(3) If a request is made under Subsection (1), the school shall:

(a) waive the participation requirement;

(b) provide a reasonable alternative to the requirement; or

(c) notify the requesting party that participation is required.

(4) The school shall ensure that the provisions of Subsection 53A-13-101.3(3) are met in connection with any required participation under Subsection (3)(c).

(5) A student's academic or citizenship performance may not be penalized by school officials for the exercise of a religious right or right of conscience in accordance with the provisions of this section.

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Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-3-413

(1) All public school buildings and grounds are civic centers and may be used by district residents for supervised recreational activities and meetings.

(2) Use of school property for civic center purposes may not interfere with any school function or purpose.

Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-3-414

A local school board has the following powers:

(1) It manages, directs, and controls civic centers under this chapter.

(2) It adopts rules for the use of these civic centers.

(3) It may charge a reasonable fee for the use of school facilities as a civic center so that the district incurs no expense for that use.

(4) It may appoint a special functions officer under Section 77-1a-4 to have charge of the grounds and protect school property when used for civic center purposes.

(5) It may refuse the use of a civic center, for other than school purposes, if it determines the use inadvisable.

Utah Code Annotated, Section 53A-3-419

(1) A local school board may limit or deny access to any student organization or club as it determines to be necessary to:

(a) protect the physical, emotional, psychological, or moral well being of students and faculty;

(b) maintain order and discipline on school premises; or

(c) prevent a material and substantive interference with the orderly conduct of a school's educational activities.

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Grand County School District - No Rules and Regulations

Upon inquiry with Superintendent Ferguson, Institute was advised that Grand County School District has no rules or regulations regarding religion in the schools and that the district relies upon State policies.

Salt Lake City School District - Policies - Access to Buildings

Definitions:

2.01 School Related Use: The use of a school site is "School Related" if it is being used by that school's academic programs, athletic programs, student government, parent-teacher associations, shared governance councils, community education, and student and employee organizations allowed by Board Policy.

2.02 Not School Related Use: All other uses of a school site are "Not School Related."

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Implementation Procedures/Guidelines

School Related use of a school site shall generally be permitted at district expense. The school's principal or designee is responsible to schedule all School Related uses. School Related uses have priority over uses that are Not School Related. ...

Uses which are Not School Related shall be governed by the following procedures:

4.01 The district's Building and Grounds Department is responsible for schedule and administering uses that are Not School Related. Application for such use must be made with the Buildings and Grounds Department.

4.02 Applications from organizations or groups must be submitted in writing from the organization's central office or headquarters and must specify the name of the adult supervisor to be in charge of the activities at the schools where facilities are requested.

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4.04 The Buildings and Grounds Department shall coordinate all scheduling to assure that priority is given to School Related uses. ...

4.06 Fees will be charged according to a district schedule. ...

4.07 All reservations are subject to change to fit school needs.

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4.11 All use must comply with all federal, state, local and district laws, policies and regulations. No unlawful activities of any kind shall be permitted.

Federal Law - 20 USC 4071

20 USC Section 4071 provides:

(a) It shall be unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance and which has a limited open forum to deny equal access or a fair opportunity to, or discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting within that limited forum on the basis of religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.

(b) A public secondary school has a limited open forum whenever such school grants an offering to or opportunity for one or more noncurriculum related student groups to meet on school premises during noninstructional time.

(c) Schools shall be deemed to offer a fair opportunity to students who wish to conduct a meeting within its limited open forum if such school uniformly provides that --

(1) the meeting is voluntary and student-initiated;

(2) there is no sponsorship of the meeting by the school, the government, or its agents or employees.

(3) employees or agents of the school or government are present at religious meetings only in nonparticipatory capacity;

(4) the meeting does not materially and substantially interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities within the school; and

(5) nonschool persons may not direct, conduct, control, or regularly attend activities of student groups.

(d) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to authorize the United States or any State or political subdivision thereof --

(1) to influence the form or content of any prayer or religious activity;

(2) to require any person to participate in prayer or other religious activity;

(3) to expend public funds beyond the incidental cost of providing the space for student-initiated meetings;

(4) to compel any school agent or employee to attend a school meeting if the content of the speech at the hearing is contrary to the beliefs of the agent or employee;

(5) to sanction meetings that are otherwise unlawful;

(6) to limit the rights of groups of students which are not of a specified numerical size; or

(7) to abridge the constitutional rights of any person.

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(f) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to limit the authority of the school, its agents or employees, to maintain order and discipline on school premises, to protect the well-being of students and faculty, and to assure that attendance of students at meetings is voluntary.