A Christian club was blocked from Wilton Manors Elementary. Here’s why it concerned some parents.

Scott Travis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·7 min read
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An elementary school in the heart of Broward’s LGBTQ community sent out a notice that shocked some parents: A new after-school club would teach morals and values from “a Biblical framework.”

Parents at Wilton Manors Elementary started researching the club, called First Priority Game Day, and became even more concerned. While it’s open to students of any religious beliefs, adult volunteers must sign a “statement of faith,” which espouses anti-LGBTQ views.

“Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person,” the club’s statement of faith reads. “We believe that the term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. … We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other.”

After complaints from the school’s PTA, Principal Tauri Eligon scrapped plans for the club, saying he hadn’t properly vetted it, parents told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. This was at least the second time the Game Day club was stopped at a Broward public school after complaints, the other being McNab Elementary in Pompano Beach in 2021.

The club, which serves students in grades 3 to 5, exists in some district-run schools as well as several charter schools, according to the First Priority Game Day website.

District officials have declined to respond to questions by the Sun Sentinel on whether the group is adhering to district policies. In general, religious groups are allowed on campus, but they can’t be sanctioned by the school and must be treated the same as secular groups.

Chris Lane, the founder and executive director of First Priority of South Florida, which organizes the club, said he’s not interested in creating any controversy for Wilton Manors Elementary.

“We don’t want the school to get any backlash,” he said. “There’s no club meeting there, so I don’t think it’s a big deal.

“Anything we do, parental permission must be given,” Lane added. “It’s not like we’re trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. A [notice] goes out saying this is what the club is about.”

As for criticism that the club is anti-LGBTQ, Lane said, “Our statement of faith is obviously biblical. We never want to hate or dislike anyone.”

The First Priority Game Day elementary club started in 2019 and now has its largest presence in Broward and St. Lucie County district, according to the group’s website.

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First Priority has had Christian clubs in numerous middle and high schools in South Florida for about 25 years. State and federal law generally allows religious clubs to meet during non-instructional hours in secondary schools if they were initiated by students.

It’s unclear whether this restriction also applies to elementary clubs. In emails, the district has given contradictory responses, with a lawyer saying in 2021 the clubs must be student-initiated and a district administrator saying this month they don’t have to be.

Ian Smith, a lawyer with the Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for the Separation of Church & State, said these types of groups are legal under three conditions.

  • The school treats this group the same way it would treat any other group that wanted to meet on school property during non-instructional time.

  • Religious groups don’t get special treatment that nobody else gets.

  • The school “is not otherwise supporting the group or encouraging students to attend religious activities.”

A parent’s concern

Similar concerns about the club arose at McNab Elementary in 2021. Parent Tina Jaramillo sent an email to school administrators alleging the club was “little more than than an evangelical recruitment project whose intent is to proselytize to students.

“I know that students can start a faith-based club, but this does not appear to be student run,” she wrote to school administrators on Nov. 5, 2021. “My concern is that many students and families may believe that the school has sponsored or endorsed this organization especially when the flyer notes that a ‘teacher sponsor’ will be present weekly.”

School Board member Sarah Leonardi, whose district includes McNab, forwarded Jaramillo’s email to then-Superintendent Vickie Cartwright, saying that “several of the points laid out by the parent are worrisome.” Cartwright alerted General Counsel Marylin Batista and administrator Valerie Wanza, according to emails from Nov. 19, 2021.

“Per our conversation,” Cartwright wrote to Batista, “I will be directing Dr. Wanza to reach out to the school to discontinue this program given that this is school-led rather than student-led.”

It’s unclear whether Cartwright, who left the district earlier this year, checked to see if other schools were also offering the club.

Questions about the club resurfaced this month. On Nov. 10, David Martin, assistant principal at Wilton Manors Elementary, emailed parents that “we are excited to share” that the Game Day club was starting.

“FP Game Day is a FREE, fast-paced, sixty-minute, faith-based club that will meet once a week,” Martin wrote. “Our goal is to create a fun, safe, and enriching environment for your child.”

Martin said all third- to fifth-graders are welcome regardless of their religious background.

“Parents can expect students to participate in fun and high-energy games while making new friends and learning important life lessons along the way,” he wrote. “Game Day is designed to share essential monthly character values throughout the year. The values we will focus on include compassion, integrity, courage, kindness, respect, and hard work, all with a Biblical framework.”

Parents with the school’s PTA went to the organization’s website to learn more.

“I don’t harbor any feelings toward kids wanting to have a religious club or a club with very light religious feel to it,’ said parent and PTA member Amber Quiroz. “But when you go to the website, their statement of faith is so out-of-line with the PTA. It’s very anti-LGBTQ and not inclusive. The push at our school is being inclusive, tolerant and open-minded.”

The elementary school’s location is in the heart of Wilton Manors, which has a gay majority on the city commission, one of the largest concentrations of same-sex households in the United States and a popular drive with numerous gay-owned restaurants, nightclubs and shops.

The club “simply doesn’t jibe with our school and community,” PTA president Jane Wolf told the Sun Sentinel.

Parents said they have other concerns about the group’s statement of faith, which discusses salvation, speaks out against abortion and describes Hell as “a real place created for the Devil and his demons. All people who die without Christ will also be condemned to hell for eternity.”

“I really feel it’s not appropriate for elementary schools,” Wolf said.

Lane said these are the Biblical principles he believes in, “and I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t tell people that.” But he said these topics aren’t the focus of the program.

“If you visited the club, you’d see kids playing kickball and memorizing a bible verse,” he said.

Leonardi, whose district also includes Wilton Manors Elementary, inquired again to district administrators about whether the club is allowed in elementary schools if it’s not student-initiated. The response she got this time was different.

Angela Fulton, a regional superintendent, said in a Nov. 14 email to her boss, Howard Hepburn, that Game Day is not student- or school employee-generated but from an outside organization, First Priority.

She said a district policy allows outside organizations to operate on campus “with a teacher or parent sponsor with final decision determined by the principal. Legal has worked with us in the past providing authorization for First Priority to function under the authority of the principal.”

The district’s communication office said in emails Friday and Tuesday that no one would be available to provide clarity until after the Thanksgiving holiday.