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Jesus Christ Disrupts Third Grade

2001-FEB-26: Orono, ME:

Gelsey Bostick, 9, a third-grade student in an Orono public school, wore a black sweatshirt to school with the name "Jesus Christ" in white lettering. Her teacher asked her to reverse the top. A few days later, she wore a T-shirt that also said "Jesus Christ." The teacher complained again and the girl switched to another shirt. The teacher's reason was that the clothing was causing a disturbance in class. One pupil's name is Jesus; this "prompted lots of chatter among the kids." Another pupil had been offended by the sweatshirt. Gelsey's mother went to the media and eventually to a public interest law firm. She apparently did not attempt to resolve the problem herself by talking with school officials. The school maintains that these events were unrelated to religion. Principal Susan O’Roak said: "This is not an issue about Gelsey’s faith. It was about other students interpreting her shirt as being swear words...There were no religious overtones." 5 During early March, the Thomas More Center for Law & Justice successfully intervened on Gelsey's behalf. In a letter to school officials, they "identified the clearly established constitutional right of this young student to wear a shirt expressing her religious faith."