A Christian sports ministry is suing a New Jersey school district for banning religious mentors from student-athlete school clubs. On Friday, it asked a federal judge to reject the district’s request for an extension, arguing that the delay would cause new religious discrimination when schools return in September.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes told the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that it would consent to extending the district’s deadline to Aug. 28, but opposes a longer delay.
The Hopewell Valley Regional School District in Pennington, N.J., said its counsel needed to “secure additional information from board representatives,” according to the filing.
The fellowship stated in the letter to the court that if the motion date was moved to Sept. 21, a week after its school clubs begin meeting, “a new round of religious discrimination would have already been inflicted.”
“There is no cause for further delay,” the ministry wrote.
It offered to accept the extension if the district temporarily restored the same access afforded to secular clubs while the motion remains pending; the district, however, rejected that proposal.
