"The
bill in this case, which was filed on April 28, 1894, avers:
"That
the plaintiffs are citizens, residents and taxpayers of the
school district of Gallitzin borough, and some of them
parents of children attending or entitled to attend the
public schools therein.
"That
those of defendants named as sisters are engaged in teaching
the said schools, having been employed by the directors, who
are also made defendants, and that the directors have paid
them and intend to continue to pay them monthly wages out of
the public school funds of Gallitzin borough.
"That
said teachers received their certificates from the county
superintendent and made the contracts as teachers in their
religious names alone, and so kept their school records and
made their reports.
"That
the said sisters are members of the religious order of the
Sisters of St. Joseph, of the Roman Catholic Church, and
while teaching in said public schools wear the garb
insignia, and emblems of their order, and that they use their
said garbs, insignia, and emblems in such a manner as to
impart to the children under their instruction certain
religious and sectarian lessons and ideas peculiar to said
Roman or Holy Catholic Church.
"That
said sisters have taken vows whereby they have renounced the
world and their worldly names and interests, and largely such
connections, associations and pursuits as ordinary
individuals have, and that they are disqualified by the
rules, requirements, seclusions, and training of their order
from fully performing all the duties of teachers in the
public schools.
"That
they are thereby prevented and disqualified from associating
or conversing with males over the age of fourteen and from
teaching hygiene and physiology efficiently, and that to
accommodate the schools to these disqualifications the
scholars are not properly classified and graded, there being
no males in room No. 8, taught by a sister, and no females in
No 7, taught by a male teacher.
"That
the said board of directors and said teachers have adopted
rules and announced them to the children in said public
schools whereby they are required to address the said
teachers as 'sister' and call them by their religious
names, with penalties for the enforcement of the said rules
and by similar rules the resident and other priests of the
Roman or Holy Catholic Church are encouraged to and do visit
the said public schools very frequently, and take the books
and hear the recitation of lessons by classes and go around
in the schoolrooms and inspect the studies and work of the
scholars individually, and the scholars are taught and
required to rise and address the said priests as
'father' and thank them for their visits and request
them to come again.
"That
the catechism of the Roman or Holy Catholic Church and other
religious instruction are studied and taught in said public
schools before, during and after school hours, and that the
catechisms aforesaid are furnished to the pupils of said
public schools and placed in said public schools by the
authorities or representatives of the said Roman or Holy
Catholic Church; that the said religious teaching is carried
on under the supervision and by the said religious teachers
and is permitted and allowed by the said school directors
and that the said teachers unlawfully used the public school
building and the musical instruments therein for the purpose
of teaching private pupils instrumental music for a money
consideration for the use of the order of the Sisters of St.
Joseph before, during, and after school hours.
"That
the said school directors have 'resolved that they would
employ no teachers for six of the rooms in said public
schools of said district except sisters of the sisterhood of
St. Joseph.'
"That
the said defendants propose and have arranged, after the
present public school term closes, to replace the same by
parochial schools in said public school building, taught
entirely by said sectarian sisters, defendants above named.
"The
plaintiffs further aver that, in pursuance of the control and
management of the schools in the manner set forth, certain
children of some of the plaintiffs and of other residents,
citizens and taxpayers, are 'deprived of the use,
benefit, and education in said public schools for the reason
that the said defendants will not permit the said children to
attend the said schools unless they go to a school department
taught by one of the said sisters,' and 'by reason of
the said sisters being employed and being in their religious
garb, emblems, and insignia, and the use of said catechism
and other religious instruction in said schools, against the
protest and objection of said plaintiffs and parents;'
and 'that the result of the management of the said
schools by said directors and sectarian teachers is a
transformation of the public schools into sectarian schools
and the maintenance and support of private sectarian schools
out of the public school fund of said district, in derogation
of the rights of the children, parents, citizens, and
taxpayers of said district, in violation of law, and more
especially in violation of the rights of conscience of
plaintiffs and their children,' and that these actions
and violations of the laws and the constitution 'cause
and produce continuous and continuing, and will continue to
cause and produce, irreparable and irremediable injury and
damage to them,' and they, therefore, pray that a
preliminary injunction, afterward to be made perpetual, be
granted restraining the said school district and said
district directors, and each of them and their successors,
from employing and continuing to engage and allow said
teachers in said public schools, and from permitting them to
remain in said public schools as teachers or otherwise while
wearing said garb, emblems, or insignia, and restraining them
from permitting the use of the catechisms or any other
sectarian books as books of instruction in said public
schools; and from the use of public school property in any
way for sectarian purposes, and from continuing to employ
said teachers under certificates issued in their religious or
sectarian names; and that in like manner the said teachers be
restrained from acting in the capacity of teachers or
otherwise in said public schools while wearing said garb,
emblems, or insignia, and from using or furnishing for use
said catechisms or other methods of sectarian instruction in
said schools, and from causing or permitting the pupils to
address them or others by any sectarian title or name
whatsoever, and from using or permitting the use of the
public school property for any other than free, common,
public school purposes, and that defendants and each of them
be restrained from, in any way or manner, directly or
indirectly, appropriating or using money raised for the
support of the public schools of said district in the support
of any sectarian school or any sectarian school purpose, or
for any purpose other than the support of the free, common,
public schools of said district.
"The
allegations contained in the bill and in the injunction
affidavits accompanying it abundantly warranting the issuing
of a preliminary injunction, it was accordingly awarded, and
May 3d fixed for a hearing. On that day the defendants filed
their answers, in which they admit the employment of members
of the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph as teachers in the
public schools of Gallitzin and their payment from the public
school fund, but deny that they had 'resolved to employ
no teachers for said six rooms in said public schools except
sisters;' and they further deny that the said sisters
have 'renounced the world and have given up their worldly
names and worldly interests, and largely such connections
associations, and pursuits as ordinary individuals usually
have in secular communities and society,' averring that
the renunciation of the world is to be understood in a
religious sense alone, and not as an absolute separation from
the world and worldly associations, connections, and
interests, and that 'they are known by their family
names, and do engage in secular pursuits and employments in
which other women engage who are not members of the said
order or of similar societies;' they deny that the
catechism of the Roman Catholic Church or any other religious
instruction is taught in said public schools before or during
school hours, but they admit 'that after the public
schools are dismissed for the day, catechism is taught to
such children as voluntarily remain to receive the same, but
deny that the catechisms are furnished and placed in said
public schools by the authorities or representatives of the
Roman Catholic Church or by any person whomsoever during
public school hours;' they aver that the study of the
catechism and religious instruction of any kind during school
hours is strictly forbidden, and that the musical instruments
used in the said building are not the property of the school
district; they deny the averment in plaintiffs' bill that
children are deprived of the use, benefit, and education of
the public schools for the reasons alleged in the bill and
recited above; they deny that the said teachers are, by the
rules and requirements of the said...
