‘Our kids need hope. Our suicide rates are going up, not down,’ band manager says in response to complaint
A North Carolina school district is facing backlash from some parents for allowing a Christian music group to perform at a public elementary school assembly, with some alleging a church and state violation.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent complaint letters last week to officials with Davidson County Schools and 3 Heath Brothers regarding a performance at Hasty Elementary School.
In their letter to school officials, Americans United alleged that 3 Heath Brothers performed an explicitly Christian concert during the school day at Hasty Elementary in March.
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“This assembly was a flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” wrote Americans United Staff Attorney Ian Smith.
“We expect assurances from the district that students will not be exposed to religious assemblies in future, and that district personnel will receive training in their responsibilities under the Establishment Clause.”
The 3 Heath Brothers comprises brothers Nicholas, Christian and Clayton Heath, with the group touting the nickname the “boyband of Christian music.” According to their website, the Christian group has performed in more than 100 public schools across the United States, entertaining tens of thousands of students in the process.
Jonathan Heath, their manager, told CP on Tuesday that he felt the Hasty Elementary performance “has been blown out of proportion,” insisting that the event was “not a religious concert.”
“We sing at public schools and Christian schools,” said Heath. “Our program that we do in public schools is geared differently. It’s different than our concerts, its different than the shows we do at Christian schools, because we try to be careful as we go in there to not be proselytizing.”
In comments emailed to The Christian Post on Monday, Smith of Americans United said his organization became aware of the event after the family of a child who attend the concert reached out to alert them about the band’s performance.
“When families report religious-freedom violations to Americans United, we investigate, contact the entities involved to educate them about the law on church-state separation, and demand they cease violating families’ religious freedom,” Smith said. “We quickly determined that not only had a clear violation occurred with the religious concert performed for Davidson County Schools students, but that 3 Heath Brothers was campaigning to perform similar proselytizing concerts in other public schools.”
Learning about the band’s history of performing at public schools prompted Americans United to send a letter to the Christian music group’s manager, calling on him to “take steps to ensure that future presentations you undertake in cooperation with public schools conform to constitutional mandates.”
Smith told CP that after receiving the letters, the school district responded, saying that “the 3 Heath Brothers directly misrepresented the contents of the assembly to the school district.”
“The band has not responded to us yet,” said Smith. “We asked for a response within 30 days; we’ll wait for the band’s response before discussing potential next steps with the family that lodged the complaint.”
Davidson County Schools Superintendent Greggory Slate told CP on Tuesday that it was “common for schools to have anti-bullying assemblies” and that faith groups were welcomed under proper conditions.
“As long as the performers do not proselytize, the content is appropriate, and students are safe, then the faith of the group should not impact the assembly,” he said. “As long as the performers for the assembly do not proselytize, the materials are vetted, and the performance meets policy, statute, and legal precedent, then DCS can support a performance.”
Heath described the public school performance as “just a lot of fun,” and they focused on a message of anti-bullying and positivity, saying that “we use the fun environment to hit kids with the fact that they’re not alone.”
“We’ve done schools in other states with no problem,” he added. “Our kids need hope. Our suicide rates are going up, not down.”
For his part, Smith disputed the claim that the Hasty Elementary event wasn’t religious, saying that this contradicted the accounts of others, and that his organization has “pictures of the proselytizing materials passed out to students.”
