ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Next, the Bill of Rights expressly protects religious freedom. Peterson’s desire to
homeschool his children with a suffusion of Christian theology was his own business. Despite
their inferences that such a move would display a lack of confidence in the local school system,
the district’s obtrusive nature in marginalizing the job capacity of Peterson based on his religious
decision was clearly a violation of Peterson’s Constitutional rights.
In the same vein, Peterson’s choice to homeschool his children was protected by the case
of Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), which established that public education did not hold dominion
over all children in its state and Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), which emphasized the
“liberty” for parents to educate their children in the manner they saw fit. Once again, the school
district seriously overstepped its bounds. However, summary judgment was granted for the
district in the point of homeschooling because Peterson never submitted a curriculum for
inspection to the supervising school district (the district in which a home school student resides)
in accordance with § 33-202.
Finally, as to Peterson’s termination, that point was moot for he refused to sign the
teacher contract. This point deferred to the fact that the school district was in breach of his
previous contract. Peterson was awarded over $300,000 in damages, not for emotional distress or
mental anguish, but for lost earnings and lost earning capacity due to the violations imposed by
the school district.
Disposition: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the
decision of the district court but remanded the case to the district court to award attorney fees to
Peterson, which had not previously been done.
Citation: Board of Trustees v. Knox, 688 SO.2D 778, (1997 Miss.).
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