CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) – The Chesapeake School Board is looking to change the way after school clubs can use district facilities.
This comes after requests to form the After School Satan Club brought up a lot of controversy and concerns about safety.
The After School Satan Club was created in December in response to other religious clubs held in Chesapeake Public Schools facilities.
After a three-hour long public comment session during a school board meeting two months ago, the board decided the club could be held with the proper security.
Now the After School Satan Club is pushing back after being asked to pay $612 per meeting for security officers so it can meet on school property.
In a public Facebook post, After School Satan Club organizer Rose Bastet calls out Chesapeake Public Schools for their “security requirements” in order to hold the club saying “the district is trying to financially burden and scare the group in hopes of dissolving it.”
Earlier this week, Bastet addressed the Chesapeake School Board, stressing the need for such a club, which she ultimately hosted at her home after the Indian River Library canceled a reservation to gather there.
“We are providing a need for secular families who feel ostracized by other religious-run groups,” Bastet said during the Jan. 30 board meeting. “I honestly didn’t realize until speaking with these parents that signed up for our club, one-on-one in my home, just how badly they want and need a community where anyone can just be themselves.”
Currently, no new clubs that aren’t school sanctioned can gather at Chesapeake Public Schools due to a moratorium imposed by the school board.
“We’re actively looking at the use policy,” board member John McCormick said during Monday’s meeting. “Dr. Cotton’s administration right now is reviewing it. We realize this is impacting organizations such as the PTA, it’s just a necessary thing right now.”
During the meeting, board member Samuel Boone said he believes all outside clubs that aren’t school sanctioned should be barred from using district facilities.
“I just feel like we’re getting so far away from education, what’s coming next? I worry about the safety of the school, the enrollment going down, the emotional effects,” Boone said Jan. 30.
10 On Your Side spoke to Boone over the phone Wednesday night, where he told us “the biggest concern is getting back to education. The school system has done an awesome job working through this and being fair.”
The board plans to reveal a plan for facility-use during its Feb. 13 meeting.
Meanwhile, Bastet tells us the ASSC will have its second meeting Feb. 16.
As for where that meeting will be held, Bastet said The Satanic Temple is exploring its options.
