Beaufort County schools suspends controversial Christian program after parent complaint

Bluftton mother Jennifer Parrott said she was previously unaware of a longtime Christian-based mentoring program offered at several Beaufort County district schools, including the two her three children attend.

Had she known, she would have “absolutely” signed up her kids to participate in the voluntary program where students learn non-academic behaviors and attitudes from a mentor.

That opportunity has evaporated.

In the wake of a national group questioning the program’s place in public schools, Beaufort County School District officials have indefinitely suspended Real Champions of the Lowcountry, a volunteer organization that mentors students at seven schools — Okatie Elementary, Michael C. Riley Elementary, Red Cedar Elementary, Bluffton Elementary, Pritchardville Elementary, H.E. McCracken Middle School and Bluffton Middle.

Freedom from Religion Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that works to protect the constitutional separation between church and state, put the program in jeopardy Oct. 31 when it asked schools superintendent Jeff Moss to terminate the district’s relationship with the Real Champions.

The school district’s lawyer, Drew Davis, sent a letter Nov. 16 to the Wisconsin-based organization informing them that, as of Nov. 15, Real Champions had been indefinitely suspended within the schools. The decision came after a district investigation that entailed conversations with principals at the participating schools, along with several phone calls and an in-person meeting with Real Champions representatives.

The district’s investigation did not determine how many students participated at each school, according to district spokesman Jim Foster.

Real Champions co-founder Carl Martin previously said roughly 100 students participated in the 2016-17 school year and that a headcount for this year was not available. He also said last month that the program had been operating at district schools for roughly 10 years.

Martin declined to comment for this story, instead sending an emailed statement that read: “We had a very constructive meeting at the district office, and our lawyers are discussing the issue with plans to meet again as soon as schedules can be coordinated.”

Among the issues under scrutiny is whether the program is offered to students during the school day.

While Foster wrote in an email that the district is unaware of Real Champions mentoring students at recess, Martin previously said the program allows students to spend 30 minutes per week before school or during recess with a mentor.

Freedom from Religion Foundation’s senior counsel Patrick Elliott — who declined to name the parent who approached him, citing his client’s confidentiality — said he is aware of students being removed from class to receive mentoring.

Asked Friday about the status of the Real Champions program, Foster said the program had been temporarily suspended. When told the newspapers had retained a copy of Davis’ letter stating the program had been indefinitely suspended, Foster said, “Let’s just say ‘suspended.’”

To Elliott, the difference between an indefinite and a temporary suspension is key in determining whether the group will file a lawsuit.

“Their volunteer mentor application form makes clear they are ‘Christ-centered mentors,’” Elliott said. “Overall, this is an unconstitutional program that cannot be returned to the school system. I presume that can’t change with the blink of an eye.”

But the district appears to want the program reinstated in the schools and is planning a second meeting with Real Champions representatives.

“We’re searching for solutions that will allow Real Champions mentors to keep working with students in ways that don’t violate the law,” Foster wrote in an email. “Students benefit tremendously from working with caring adult mentors.”

The outside group’s uproar over Real Champions bothers Parrott, the Bluffton mother of three, who sees their response as hampering students’ opportunities to receive help.

“Christians are being thrown aside because you have the few saying we’re offensive,” she said. “Everything being politically correct has gotten way out of hand and it’s just maddening.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Beaufort County schools suspends controversial Christian program after parent complaint."