The City Council is holding a public hearing today on whether or not to pass a resolution in favor of a state law that would allow churches and other faith-based groups to use public school space, a debate which stemmed from a long legal battle by University Heights church Bronx Household of Faith, which had been fighting for years to continue holding services at PS 15.

The group lost their appeal this December after the Supreme Court declined to review their case, and the city announced that faith-based organizations which currently rent school spaces have until Feb. 12 to find new homes, a decision that many–led in large part by Bronx City Councilman Fernando Cabrera–have been fighting through city and state legislation.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., expressed his support for the faith-based community in a letter to DOE Chancellor Dennis Walcott last week, saying he thinks the decision to let religious groups use school space should be left to the discretion of principals, and cited the important role that faith groups have played in their neighborhoods.

“The Department of Education should encourage schools to connect with their neighboring community organizations, in order to forge good relationships that can reverberate out into the community-at-large,” Diaz wrote. “Such relationships can have a direct positive effect on the school community and the families of the students they serve.”
Opponents of a proposed amendment, however, argue that allowing religious groups to practice on public school space violates the separation of church and state and, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) threatens religious freedom.

“Our public schools serve children of all faiths equally,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement. Converting our schools into churches sends a message to the community – and to children – that the government favors Christian churches. It creates a climate of discrimination, intolerance and animosity that has no place in public schools.”