The Encinitas Union School District north of San Diego would probably have preferred that parents just relax and breathe deep, rather than sue over a yoga program used in classes.

The National Center for Law & Policy (NCLP), on behalf of Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their two elementary school children, sued in San Diego Superior Court to suspend the yoga program already instituted in half the district’s schools. They claim it promotes Hinduism and teaches religious doctrine in place of state-required physical education.

Yoga is offered to students as part of their PE requirement and is paid for by a $533,000 three-year grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes Ashtanga yoga. The three-year pilot program is believed to be the first in the nation to put full-time yoga instructors in each of a district’s schools and has an opt-out option for parents who don’t want their children to participate in the 30-minute, twice-weekly classes. Students are tested to see if the classes improve their health, such as blood pressure levels, make them more attentive, lead to better attendance and improve test scores.

Schools Superintendent Timothy B. Baird described it to ABC News as “a very mainstream physical fitness program that happens to incorporate yoga into it. It's part of our overall wellness program.”  He denied that it is religious and said most of the parents and students support the program.

NCLP attorney Dean Broyles has a different take and is quoted in the organization’s press release. “This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney.”  He referred to Superintendent Baird’s defense of the program as a “mantra.”

“The analog would be if we substituted for this program a charismatic Christian praise-and-worship physical education program,” Broyles told The New York Times.

Russell Case of Jois Foundation said that sort of analogy was inappropriate. “We’re good Christians that just like to do yoga because it helps us to be better people.”

-Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Yoga Class Draws a Religious Protest (by Will Carless, New York Times)

California School District Sued Over Yoga Program (by Julie Watson, Associated Press)

Law Firm, Parents File Suit against EUSD over Yoga Classes (by Gary Worth, U-T San Diego)

EUSD Sued for Civil Rights Violations Resulting from its Inherently and Pervasively Religious Ashtanga Yoga Program (National Center for Law and Policy) (pdf)