Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Schools Open Classrooms to Bible Groups : Education: The high school district will allow religious and other student organizations to use facilities during certain times.

A new policy in the William S. Hart Union High School District has propped open the classroom door for Bible study groups.

Bible study members in May accused school administrators of discriminating against them by blocking their lunchtime access to classrooms at Canyon, Hart and Saugus high schools. District officials acknowledged that the prior policy, which allowed curriculum-oriented groups to meet in classrooms but limited others to outdoor campus use, was inconsistently enforced.

Any student-run club can meet using school facilities, according to the access policy adopted by district trustees Wednesday night. The new rule allows non-curriculum clubs to use school facilities during lunch and immediately before or after the school day.

The district still differentiates between curriculum-oriented groups and others, said Daniel Hanigan, assistant superintendent for the district. Teachers may only lead and participate in school-related clubs.

Alan Land, a teacher of constitutional law at The Master’s College, a religious school in Placerita Canyon, who lobbied in favor of the change, praised the board’s adoption of the new policy and the civics lesson he said it provided.

“I think the students were very excited by the process. When we had our early meetings, there were feelings we should sue. The risk that we took by taking the political route was that the district would take the position to disallow all non-curriculum groups,” Land said.

Board members spent hours at their June 16 meeting trying to assemble a document that would treat student clubs consistently but not permit extremist groups.

“I hope we haven’t created a problem for the school district dealing with some issues in the future. That’s what the First Amendment is for, though,” Land said.