A Washington state public school district is facing a federal lawsuit after officials allegedly searched a Christian child’s backpack for religious materials, confiscated her Bible and later told her she had “no choice” but to participate in school programming that violated her family’s faith.

The American Center for Law and Justice says the dispute involving Highline Public Schools began in 2022, when J.H. was a second grader at North Hill Elementary School.

School officials repeatedly searched the girl’s backpack and confiscated her Bible and Gospel tracts because she had been talking about her Christian faith with classmates, according to the ACLJ. The legal organization says the district ultimately acknowledged the conduct was wrong and promised in writing that J.H. would be allowed to exercise her faith.

“It is abundantly clear that school officials must be able to affirmatively establish that they have a substantial reason to interfere with a student’s First Amendment rights, and stating ‘because it is upsetting parents’ as the reason certainly does not meet this constitutional threshold,” ACLJ said in a statement.

But the controversy did not end there.

Now a sixth grader at Sylvester Middle School, J.H. was allegedly pulled from class earlier this year after distributing Gospel tracts during lunch. The lawsuit alleges a vice principal told the child that students could share “opinions” at school, but not religious beliefs.

Then came a mandatory May 29 “Inclusion Assembly.”

The ACLJ says J.H. became visibly upset when the presentation addressed subjects that conflicted with her Christian beliefs. She quietly asked to leave and explained why.

A teacher allegedly responded, “They aren’t forcing their belief on you, but they are informing you about this.”

When the girl again objected, she was allegedly told, “You have no choice,” and sent back into the gym, where the ACLJ says she sat crying.

The ACLJ filed suit July 8 in federal court on behalf of J.H. and her father, Jonathan H. Local news outlet The Highline Journal reported that Highline Chief Communications Officer Tove Tupper initially said the district had not yet received the lawsuit and would review it once served. The allegations have not been proven in court.

The district’s own published student-rights policy states that students “possess the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion” and should not be pressured to choose between participating in school activities and their religious beliefs.

The ACLJ argues the incidents demonstrate a continuing pattern of religious discrimination.

“Three separate incidents. Three separate violations. The same student. The same district,” the organization said.

Back in 2022 a school district spokesperson told CBN News that sometimes the district must restrict student expression.

Highline Public Schools Chief Communications Officer Catherine Carbone Rogers disputes the ACLJ’s account of what happened. She tells CBN News, “The student was not banned from discussing her Christian faith with classmates, she was asked to invite classmates to talk about her faith and honor their wishes if they chose not to. This came after several students reported being scared by her talk of Satan and Hell, and multiple parents complained about their children coming home with religious pamphlets.”

Rogers told CBN News that the school contends the little girl was also standing dangerously on a playground table while sharing her faith and her words reportedly made other children cry. She says school district staff informed her that she can’t tell other children they’re going to hell and that the little girl must stop distributing what the school considers to be unacceptable religious materials.

“As reflected in its policies and procedures, the Highline Public Schools agrees with the core principles raised in the ACLJ letter of governmental neutrality to religion, avoidance of discrimination against religious viewpoints, and allowing students to express themselves at school, including potentially through the distribution of written materials. At the same time, we must sometimes restrict student expression to avoid undue interference or disturbance—especially at the elementary school level,” Rogers stated.

Todd Starnes