Will Elmbrook Take Graduation Lawsuit Fight to Supreme Court?

The Elmbrook School Board is still mulling whether to continue to fight a lawsuit over whether the district violated the U.S. Constitution by holding graduation ceremonies at .

A federal appeals court in July ruled — by a 7-3 margin — that the district violated the First Amendment when it held previous graduation ceremonies in the church.

In its ruling, the court said it was not broadly rejecting governmental use of church spaces, citing legal precedent for churches to be used as polling sites. But it said in this case Elmbrook Church's cross and other religious materials in the presence of the public school graduation ceremony violated the Constitution.

Elmbrook officials have been meeting with their attorney since the July 23 ruling and are considering whether to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Board members will talk about the issue behind closed doors in a special School Board meeting set for 5:15 p.m. Tuesday — the third closed session since the appeals court handed down its ruling.

After the closed session, board members are expected to discuss the case publicly for the first time at their regular board meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the administration office, 13780 Hope St.

It is unclear whether the board will decide whether to appeal the case to the high court Tuesday, however, one hour has been set aside for discussion on the case.

In April 2009, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of nine anonymous Elmbrook families claiming the district violated the Constitution.

In July 2010, a federal court granted the school district's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the case. In September 2011, , however, Americans United asked the full 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case, which ultimately resulted in the July ruling against the district.

Elmbrook moved its graduation ceremonies back to the high school in 2010, after building a new field house at . Graduations have not been held in the church since 2009.

Americans United said their clients want to ensure Elmbrook doesn't return the ceremonies to the church.