BY SETH SIDITSKY
NJ Spotlight
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has filed a federal lawsuit against the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, alleging the district unlawfully barred outside volunteers from attending religious clubs while not doing the same for dozens of other student organizations.
The case centers on whether the district’s interpretation of the federal Equal Access Act unlawfully singled out religious student clubs, or properly enforced longstanding constitutional limits intended to keep public school religious clubs student-led.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, names as defendants the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education, Superintendent Rosetta Treece, interim Mercer County Executive County Superintendent Daryl Minus-Vincent and state Education Commissioner Lily Laux. The plaintiffs include the national Fellowship of Christian Athletes and its chapters at Hopewell Valley Central High School and Timberlane Middle School.
The fellowship argues that the district imposed a restriction that applies only to religious organizations, violating both the Equal Access Act and the First Amendment. The Freedom From Religion Foundation — whose contact with the district helped trigger the dispute, though it is not a party to the lawsuit — says the complaint ignores an equally important provision of federal law requiring religious clubs in public schools to remain student-initiated and student-led.
‘Does not discriminate’
The affluent district, about 9 miles north of Trenton, has about 3,500 students from Hopewell Borough and Township, plus Pennington. Hopewell Valley Regional is among New Jersey’s higher-performing school districts, with state test proficiency rates substantially above statewide averages and a 97% graduation rate.
Speaking on Aug. 17 after the Board of Education meeting, district attorney Paul Green declined to discuss the merits of the litigation.
“The district certainly does not discriminate or look to discriminate against anyone based on religion,” Green said.
The athletes group has operated student-led clubs, known as Huddles, at the high school and middle school since 2024, according to legal filings. Students gather during lunch periods for prayer, Bible study, discussion and fellowship. Adult Fellowship of Christian Athletes volunteers provided pizza and mentored student leaders, according to the complaint.
One volunteer is Carolyn McDonough, a Hopewell Valley Central High School graduate who, according to the complaint, was an inaugural student leader of the Huddle before becoming Central Jersey West area director for the fellowship. The lawsuit says McDonough returned to her alma mater as a volunteer mentor, answering students’ questions about “life, faith or sports” and supporting student leaders during meetings.
That changed in March 2025.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a national organization that advocates for separation of church and state, sent a March 2025 letter to the district after a community member contacted the group with concerns. By May of 2025, the group issued a statement with comments that it attributed to the district.
“Dr. Treece is directing the Timberlane Middle School Principal to immediately stop the direct involvement of any outside adults in the meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and to ensure that the group’s activities comply with the requirements of the Equal Access Act, the First Amendment and relevant provisions of New Jersey law,” wrote Green, according to the statement.
The lawsuit alleges the district then expanded that practice before the start of the 2025-26 school year by prohibiting outsiders from attending religious clubs while continuing to permit adult volunteers in other student organizations.
Same treatment
Attorney Joe Davis, representing the athletes group for Becket Law, which litigates religious cases, said Congress passed the Equal Access Act of 1984 to prevent schools from treating religious student groups differently from other clubs.
“It’s great that other clubs have outside speakers and outside volunteers,” Davis told MercerMe. “All we’re asking for is the exact same treatment for our religious student group.”
Chris Line, an attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, said the group never sought to eliminate Fellowship of Christian Athletes clubs or prohibit students from practicing their faith.
“We never asked the district to ban volunteers,” Line told MercerMe. “We asked them to investigate whether outside adults were directing or regularly participating in the meetings.”
During the Board of Education meeting, resident Sylvia Kosces urged the district to reconsider its position, arguing that the district was treating religious clubs differently from secular organizations.
“There are factual and legal issues that are very complex constitutionally,” said Green, reading from a prepared statement. “There are countervailing constitutional issues with respect to whether the clubs are truly student-run.”
Treece declined to discuss the litigation in detail, citing the pending case.Equal Access Act
The Equal Access Act generally requires public secondary schools that receive federal funding to provide equal access to religious, political and philosophical student clubs if they allow other noncurricular student organizations to meet on campus.
A federal judge is being asked to consider what role outside adults may play in those clubs under the law. Both sides acknowledge the case may have national implications.
Davis, the plaintiff’s attorney, said disputes over the Equal Access Act have arisen in federal courts around the country, and the Hopewell Valley lawsuit presents another opportunity to clarify the law.
“This is an issue that’s of sufficient importance to be litigated quite a bit in the federal system,” he said.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation views the broader stakes differently.
Line said the organization believes recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have expanded religious liberty claims while narrowing historic interpretations of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause on church and state, leading to more legal challenges involving religion in public schools.
“Our Supreme Court has shown it is extremely open to sort of tearing down the wall of separation of church and state,” Line said.
This article was reported by MercerMe, an independent publishing partner of NJ Spotlight News.
