In a hearing at the U.S. District Court in San Jose March 30, Judge James Ware dismissed three of four allegations made by Stephen Williams. Williams had claimed school district personnel violated his freedom of speech, had a vague policy on supplemental materials in the classroom and infringed on his right to religious expression.

"I am not aware of any right that allows religious expression in the classroom," said Ware in dismissing the three claims.

However, Ware did say he would further consider Williams' allegation that the school district treated him differently because of his Christian faith.

In court documents filed by his attorneys, Williams describes himself as an orthodox Christian.

Williams, a fifth-grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary, experienced a religious awakening several years ago. As a part of that awakening, several Stevens Creek parents became concerned last spring that Williams was proselytizing in his classroom. As a result, in May 2004 Stevens Creek Principal Patricia Vidmar asked to see Williams' teaching handouts before he used them in class. Subsequently, Vidmar requested that Williams not give his students certain documents referencing God, including parts of the Declaration of Independence. However, students still had access to the full text of the Declaration of Independence in their textbook and in the school library.

After initially attempting to negotiate with Vidmar on his own, Williams sued CUSD in November 2004 with the help of the Alliance Defense Fund--a Christian legal foundation.

At the March 30 court hearing, the school district's attorney Mark Davis asked to have the case dismissed while Williams' lawyer, Kevin Theriot of the Alliance Defense Fund, continued to assert discrimination.

"There is no evidence of his attempt to convert students to Christianity," said Theriot.

Ware disagreed. "The material submitted is of a religious nature and not appropriate to be used in a fifth-grade classroom because of the separation of church and state," he said.

Even so, Ware said he would still consider Williams' claim the school district treated him differently because of his religion. Ware is expected to issue his opinion during the first week of April.