‘After School Satan Club’ stirs controversy in Facebook groups

News that a youth group called After School Satan Club has been approved to meet at Golden Hills Elementary School beginning Dec. 5 has triggered controversy in the Tehachapi area, with hundreds of comments on social media.

Administrators of the Tehachapi Raves and Rants Facebook group shut down comments overnight at least once so they could sleep. And the administrator of the Tehachapi Ask Facebook group decided to remove comments about the topic. The topic was also discussed in the Reopen Tehachapi Schools Facebook group.

Many comments about the club have been negative, but others have expressed support for freedom of speech and religion. Some individuals have asked those who expressed criticism of a religious group using a school facility why they didn’t object when the district allowed the Good News Club, a Christian organization, to use schools. And a few people have expressed support and interest in having their children attend club meetings.

A Tehachapi woman who identifies herself on Facebook as Lauren Mae said she will be one of the adult volunteers in the program and offered to respond to questions.

Documents released by Tehachapi Unified School District in response to a public records act request show that the facility use request was initiated by June Everett, identified as campaign director, After School Satan Club and an ordained minister of The Satanic Temple. The organization is headquartered in Salem, Mass.

Everett’s communication said the local contact for the club is Damian Michaels. A phone number was provided for Michaels but redacted from the information released by the school district. Efforts to identify and contact Michaels were not immediately successful.

The Satanic Temple began communication with the district in late October and submitted its completed Civic Center Facilities User Permit Application on Oct. 21. The organization was informed on Nov. 14 that use of the cafeteria at Golden Hills was approved.

Email communication between a district staff member and Everett shows that the district requested some modification to the related flier to be sent home with students so that the type size on the disclaimer would be larger. The disclaimer on the bottom of the parent permission form states that the club is not an activity of the school or the school district.

Everett said she plans to attend the first club meeting, along with volunteers.

According to a website for The Satanic Temple, the organization The After School Satan Clubs meet at select public schools where Good News Clubs and other religious clubs meet. Good News Clubs have been active at Tehachapi elementary schools since at least 2019 (although like other activities, they were disrupted during the pandemic).

In a letter to parents dated Nov. 15, Tehachapi Unified School District Superintendent Stacey Larson-Everson said the district has approved use of the cafeteria for the After School Satan Club.

The superintendent noted that the district has long allowed varied community groups, including religious groups, to use publicly-funded school facilities outside the school day.

She said the district also permits distribution to students of noncommercial flyers that publicize services, special events, clubs, activities and public meetings.

“By law,” Larson-Everson noted, “the District cannot discriminate against groups wishing to use TUSD facilities or distribute flyers to students based on viewpoint.”

The organization has been required to provide insurance for its use of the school cafeteria, consistent with district policy.

It appears, though, that The Satanic Temple will not be charged for use of the space. According to TUSD policy, no fees are assessed for community student groups or nonprofit groups using school facilities when no fees are collected and use is during regular staff hours.

According to multiple news reports, the Internal Revenue Service recognized the Satanic Temple as a church in 2019, giving it nonprofit status.

The Satanic Temple states that its religion is non-theistic and non-supernaturalist, and is a separate and distinct religion from “Wicca, neo-paganism and neo-heathenism, and other occult or left-hand path traditions.” It also distances itself from an earlier organization, the Church of Satan, founded by Anton Szandor LaVey in the 1960s.

The Reason Alliance, the other sponsor of the After School Satan Club, is a nonprofit organization. According to its website it

“promotes religious pluralism, fights for reproductive rights, protects children from abuse at school, and defends the unfairly and unjustly marginalized.”