Opinion Letter to The Honorable Phillip M. Barry

February 8, 1979 OPI NION LETTER NO . 8 Answer by Letter - Hyatt Honorabl e Phillip M. Ba rry ~e0reqenta tive, Dis~r ic t lQS c/o House ?ost Off ice ; t ate Capitol Buil~ in J Jefferson City , Missouri 65101 Dear Representa tive Barry : - ----- F l L ~ D \ t I This i s i n resoonse t o your r equest for an op inion wh ich reads as follows : "Does a school boaro of educa tion have the riqn t ana dUthority to q ca nt permi ssion t o anv orqanizat i on to offer or d i s tr1 bute relig ious publ icat1ons or materi al to anv o r all of the student bocly e ither i ns i de of the educational faci lity o r on the school g rounds ? " Prio r Atto r ney General ' s Ooi nion No . 265 (1 969 ) dealt with a s1mila r i ssue . There t he ques tion ~~s whet her a public school boar d cou l d grant usage of classroows t o t he Mi nisterial Alli ance to con- duct r e ligious training . That opin i on concluded that a school board could not a llow its classrooms t o be us~d fo r such a ou r oose . That conclusion was based on t wo points : (1) a school d i strict may act only by express statutory authority or as i s necessary t o effectuat e the purposes of its creation, and ( 2 ) t he current vers i on of Section 177.031, RS~1o 1969 , which authorizes a school boar d t o allow the free use of its bui l d ings and qrounds " ••• fo r any other civic , social and educational pur pose th~t will not i nter ier e with the prime purpose to wh i ch th e houses , bu ild i ngs and grounds a r e de- voted •.• • " does not oenti on religious nu r poses among those per- mitted . As we stated in Opi n i on No . 265 , this failure t o include religious pur poses is significant in ligh t of t he l egislative his- tory of that section since: Honorable PhilliP M. Barry "From 1881 until 1915 , religious pur- poses were expressly mentioned as an au- thorized use of public school property . The reference to religious purposes was dropped i n 1915. It is logical to assume, therefore, that the legislature intended i n 1915 t o revoke the authority previously given to al l ow the use of public school property for religious pur poses." In addition to t he cases cited in that op1n1on, we would di- rect your attention to cases from other jurisdictions prohibiting the distribution of religi ous material on school premises: Tudor '!.-!..Board of Education of Borough of Rutherford , 100 A.2d 857 (N.J. 1953 ); Brown~ Orange County Board of Public Instruction, 128 So. 2d 181 (Fla. Ct . P?~· 1960 ); Goodw in'!.-!.. Cross County School Di strict No . 7 , 394 F. Supp. 417 (D.C.Ark. 1973); Meltzer v. Board of Public InStruction of Orange County , Florida , 548 F . 2d 559 (5th Cir . 1977) . We believe the situation you describe of a school board au- t horizing the distribution of religious ma terial on school grounds would be judged under the same legal principles used i n Opinion No . 265 . The di stribut ion of religious publications or material i s obviousl y a use of school property for a religious purpose . Since a school board has no statutory au thority to a llow school property to be used for religious ourposes , we must conclude that authorizing the distribut i on of religious publications or ma terial on school grounds would be unlawful . While the advance of relig ious beliefs is considered by me and I believe by most people to be desirable , this office is com- pelled by the weight of the law to conclude that school boards may not allow the use of the public schools to assist in this effort. Opinion No. 265 (1969) , Article I X, Section 8 , and Article I, Sec- tion 7 of the Missouri Constitution. It should be noted that the prohibition against the use of public schools for religious purposes applies with equal force to the pr omot i on of ~ and all religious organizations and thus may serve to protect the school children of this state from a wide va- riety of organi zations, sects , or cults . It i s the opinion of this office that a board of education has no legal authority to grant permission to any organization to offer or di stribute religious publications or material to any or all of the student body either inside the educational facility or on the school grounds. Yours very truly, JOHN ASHCROF'r Attorney General - 2-