EDUCATION Crossing school rules

Pennsylvania, Oregon and Nebraska ban religious jewelry.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's unlikely that public school teachers in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys would have to fight to wear cross pendants at work.
Unlike the school system in Pennsylvania where Brenda Nichol works, those in the local area don't have policies that prohibit the wearing of religious garb.
Nichol, 43, a teacher's aide employed by the ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 in Indiana, Pa., was suspended for a year without pay in April after she ignored warnings about wearing her 11/4-inch cross pendant to school.
Officials' comments
But education officials in this region said something like that is unlikely here.
"I can almost assure you, somewhere in Columbiana County, there's a teacher with a cross necklace on," said Paul Hood, superintendent of the Columbiana County Educational Service Center. "It's a very religious area."
Hood said the only dress codes of which he is aware are broad and require teachers to dress "professionally, to represent teaching as a profession."
"As far as wearing crosses or any other religious symbol, that has not been an issue," he said.
William H. Hyde, superintendent of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center, said he also was unaware of any such issue. Such concerns might arise, he said, if such a symbol were disruptive or a distraction from learning.
In Trumbull County, each district determines its own dress code, said Dr. Anthony D'Ambrosio, superintendent of the Trumbull County Educational Service Center. They don't refer to religious items but attire only, sometimes allowing a more casual code for Fridays.
And in Pennsylvania's Midwestern Intermediate Unit 4 -- which assists districts in areas that include Lawrence and Mercer counties -- the dress code is not a detailed one but allows for what is "reasonable," said executive director Angelo Pezzuolo. Supervisors or administrators determine what is appropriate.
Pezzuolo has been with the unit since 1970 and said he has never seen a problem with the dress code.
Nichol lawsuit
In the Nichol situation, the teacher's aide has sued the ARIN unit 28 in federal court in Pittsburgh, saying the unit's rule violates her constitutional right to freedom of religious expression.
The intermediate unit supplies teachers aides and other services to 11 public school districts in Armstrong and Indiana counties, including the Penns Manor School District about 45 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, where Nichol worked. Last week, they announced that Nichol will be paid through August.
Officials at the unit said the rule is based on an 1895 state law. The agency's executive director, Robert H. Coad Jr., said the measure is meant to keep employees from wearing any item that could be objectionable to others, including symbols or emblems of occult religions.
Unions' views
Debbie Tully, professional issues coordinator with the Ohio Federation of Teachers, said she knows of no problems with religious attire in Ohio. She said the union strives for any dress codes to have generic language such as "professional" instead of lists of "cans" and "can'ts."
Bill Lavezzi, executive director of the North Eastern Ohio Education Association, said he could not recall any times when such an issue has come up.
"As a union, we tend to believe our members need to have all their citizenship rights, including the right to religious freedom," he said. "We also know schools do not have the right to impose a religious view on students. The problem comes when those two intersect."
A district that would ban wearing a cross could be challenged in Ohio courts as to whether the rule is reasonable or a violation of First Amendment rights, said Patrick J. Schmitz, deputy director of legal services for the Ohio School Boards Association. He said it is more likely that such an issue would surface in a diverse community.
Limited rights
"Teachers do not have the unfettered right to express their political or religious views in class or on school grounds, but there are some rights they do possess," he said. Although he could point to no case law involving the specific topic, he said the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 ruled that a U.S. Air Force uniform regulation that prohibited the wearing of a yarmulke was constitutional.
Literature from the National School Board Association shows that Pennsylvania, Oregon and Nebraska all have statutes that ban religious attire. Arkansas and Tennessee have statutes that allow it. Courts in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, North Dakota and Connecticut have ruled that religious attire is not sectarian.
Coad, at the ARIN unit 28, said the state law in Pennsylvania was upheld by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In that 1990 case, the court rejected arguments by a Muslim teacher from Philadelphia who sought to wear traditional garb.
XThe Associated Press contributed to this report.