Mackenzie Ryan

mryan@dmreg.com

The ACLU of Iowa is warning school leaders about a nonprofit Christian group that it says shared anti-gay and anti-Mormon messages in an attempt to proselytize at an Iowa high school.

A six-page letter from the ACLU comes in response to a Todd Becker Foundation visit to Logan Magnolia high school last spring for a school assembly, where the foundation talked about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Immediately afterward, the foundation disseminated religious DVDs and books, prompting some students to believe the "post assembly" event was endorsed by the school, according to the ACLU and the Iowa Department of Education, which investigated the incident.

A second evening event the foundation hosted at the school "was expressly proselytizing, including preaching against homosexuality and an invitation to attendees to kneel at the front of the room and welcome Christianity into their lives," according to the ACLU's letter.

The incidents upset some students and parents, including Charlotte Lefeber, who withdrew her children and now home schools them.

"To be hateful and derogatory? It’s not acceptable,” Lefeber said.

The Iowa Department of Education investigated after receiving a parent complaint, but ultimately did not cite Logan Magnolia Schools, which is about 30 miles north of Council Bluffs.

But in its July statewide newsletter, department leaders did publish recommendations for vetting speakers. While it did not mention the Logan Magnolia incident specifically, it urged districts to research groups, vet materials that are handed out and not hold assemblies with outside speakers at the end of the school day.

"It definitely blurs the line," said Staci Hupp, the department's spokeswoman. "We felt the district recognized the problems that resulted. They seemed very interested in preventing something like this from happening again."

A surprising message

At the school assembly, the foundation told the story of Todd Becker, a high school student who died in an alcohol-related car accident. The Nebraska-based foundation states on its website that it is run by Becker's brother, Director Keith Becker, who offers two assemblies: one for students during school and one for the community in the evening. The event at Logan Magnolia was for about 200 students in high school; there are about 200 students in grades 9-12 and about 650 total in K-12 in the district.

Becker said the ACLU mischaracterized what occurred. The foundation has not been contacted by the department or ACLU, he said.

"There was a clear separation between the daytime and evening events — and no reasonable observer could have confused the private speech of the Todd Becker Foundation team with actions or speech of school officials," he said.

Logan Magnolia paid $1,500 for the school assembly, which Superintendent Tom Ridder said was a "really, really good message" about how drinking can affect your life.

But Ridder was surprised when anti-homosexual and anti-Mormon messages were distributed after the school bell rang.

"If I had known that would have been the case, they would not have come into the building," Ridder said.

The Becker Foundation website says it has been to 13 Iowa schools, mostly in southwest Iowa. Logan Magnolia was not listed as of Thursday; school officials said they'd asked not to be included.

The website says foundation members have visited more than 300 schools in the Midwest and West.

"They're a traveling show," said Rita Bettis, legal director of the ACLU of Iowa. "It's important that school superintendents and officials understand that they may be asked to invite Todd Becker into their schools, and they should know what happened at Logan Magnolia."

It's not the first time the Becker Foundation has spurred controversy. Americans United for Separation of Church and State received complaints from parents after a school assembly in Nebraska in 2010, attorney Ian Smith said.

The foundation is also not the first group to spark such concerns. In 2004, the Register reported on complaints about You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, a Minnesota-based organization. At the time, school officials accused the group of doing a "bait-and-switch" with an assembly to get its religious message into public schools.

​“We learned from this that we have to be super careful on who we would bring in,” Superintendent Ridder said. ​​

'Post assembly' message

The Becker Foundation held two assemblies in March at Logan Magnolia: One was during school hours, with an immediate "post-assembly" event after school ended. One was later in the evening, and the community was invited.

Parent Annette Deakins said after the school gathering — which centered on drinking and driving, and included a Bible verse — teens were encouraged to talk with group members.

Her son, Kody, approached a group member and was asked about his religion. When Kody said he was Mormon, he was given a 500-page book about why his faith was wrong, Deakins said.

When her daughter, Shya, went looking for her brother, she was given an anti-Morman DVD, which she showed to her mother.

"I'm not OK with that," she said.

Principal Christi Gochenour said she felt blindsided by the incident, although she said she was aware of only two students who received materials.

“To bash a certain religion and a certain part of the community? That’s not OK," she said.

The ACLU said because administrators failed to tell students the "post assembly" was not a school event, or inform them of the "overtly religious" messages they would hear, some students and parents thought the invitation to proselytize was endorsed by the school.

Parent Samantha Johnson called it a misuse of taxpayer dollars and a mingling of church and state.

"It's better for everyone if we keep it clean, if schools can focus on school," she said.​

'I got traumatized'

Deakins, who attended the evening performance, said the later event was billed as having a Christian message.

But she was taken aback after three "direct attacks" against Mormons.

"That's where I got traumatized," she said, describing the preaching as "hellfire and damnation." "He taught all my kids' friends and all my friends that Mormons … were wrong."

The ACLU believes that Logan Magnolia should not have advertised the Christian event on its website or through letters sent home with students.

Ridder said the school wanted to inform families about the two events, and the differences between them.

Logan Magnolia did not pay the group for after-hours events or charge the Becker Foundation for using the space, which is district policy, Ridder said.

Shelley Foutch, vice president of the school board, said what happened was unfortunate, but the district is moving forward.

“We handled it appropriately, and it’s done,” she said. “It could have happened at any school.”

More online

Read the ACLU of Iowa's six-page letter online at DesMoinesRegister.com