ABSTRACT
This chapter examines one of the areas often encountered by public school officials: disputes over the distribution of religious materials by community organizations and students. In 1984, Congress gave students an added advantage under the Equal Access Act (EAA) which prohibited school boards that created limited open fora from discriminating against students who form clubs on the basis of 'religious, political, philosophical, or other content of their speech' at group meetings. Under the EAA, students are entitled to form and meet in their religious clubs as long as school officials permit at least one non-curriculum-related club to do so during non-instructional time. Distribution of materials in non-classroom areas such as hallways depends on whether school boards or officials have created limited public fora and whether distributions are considered disruptive under Tinker. The right of religious organizations to distribute material exists only if school officials permitted other such organizations to do so.
