Should school choirs sing Christian songs?

A family whose daughter recently graduated from a northeast Iowa school district is appealing to the state over what they say is inappropriate religious music performed by the public school choir.

The concern includes songs such as “In This Very Room,” which the choir performed as a concert’s last selection, holding hands and forming a circle around the audience.

The parents, who were named only by initials in the complaint, claim such songs endorse Christianity and point to lyrics such as: “For Jesus, Lord Jesus … is in this very room.”

They brought concerns to the New Hampton School Board in January, which decided in March to continue the practices. The 980-student New Hampton Community School District, about 40 miles north of Waterloo, serves a predominantly Christian community.

“We had consulted with our legal advisers, and the school board felt we were within the law in doing things correctly,” New Hampton Superintendent Jay Jurrens said.

The school board also received a petition with 582 signatures supporting the choir’s songs and practices, which included a “Church Tour” where students perform in churches in the community.

The school board’s decision was appealed by an administrative law judge, who upheld the decision. The Iowa Board of Education will consider the case at its meeting Thursday.

Staci Hupp, the education department’s spokeswoman, said the state has no administrative rules regarding religious music in schools. The two sides relied on case law to make their arguments, and if the family chooses, they could appeal the Board of Education’s decision to district court.

Administrative Law Judge Nicole Proesch, who is also the education department’s attorney, is recommending that the school district be allowed to continue the musical selections and traditions.

According to a legal document detailing the case, the concerns by parents J.T. and J.K. date back to 2011-12, when their daughter was a freshman and they first heard “In This Very Room” performed.

The music director said that the song was selected by students years before, after they heard it performed at a choir festival at Luther College, and had asked for it to be included. Over the years, the tradition of holding hands during the song was also initiated by students, the document said.

About 86 students participate in the high school’s three choirs, which have graded performances during the school year. However, individuals who cannot attend or chose to opt out of the performances for religious reasons can complete an alternative assignment.

The document also addressed the selection of music, saying that the majority of choral music is based on religious music, because historically churches and royalty commissioned the work of composers, and had the resources to preserve music in a written format.

“With the high ratio of religious choral music in music libraries in relation to non-religious pieces, to limit choral selections to non-religious pieces would significantly limit the amount of good choral pieces that are available for performances,” it says.

It also says that there’s no evidence that the practice of holding hands has a religious significance, nor that students receive instructions on the religious content of the songs.

In addition, students did not attend religious services while performing at churches, but rather used the performances to experience different acoustics and blending of sounds.

Jurrens said that the New Hampton School Board expects to review the state board’s decision at their next meeting.

“Like any recommendation, they can take it, change it or deny the recommendation,” he said. “We’re just waiting to see what happens.”

If you go...

The Iowa Board of Education meets Thursday. The meeting starts at 10:30 a.m., although the appeal is not expected to be discussed until about 11:55 a.m., The meeting will be on the second floor of the Grimes State Office Building at 400 E. 14th Street, Des Moines.