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Playing basketball is a big part school life for high school senior Shannon Crow. So is prayer and bible study with her classmates in the 'Fellowship of Christian Athletes'.
"I think its great that we can get together as a group of students and just be in fellowship with each other and encourage one another as we go through our everyday lives."
The 50 Valley Center students involved with the group will still be able to bring their bibles and gather on school grounds. But, the district is changing the way the FCA operates after a parent raised some concerns.
Superintendent Cory Gibson says the changes are in line with what most districts do with regard to the FCA.
The teacher who serves as sponsor will no longer get special pay for it. The sponsor also cannot lead the group meetings. Handouts cannot use the Valley Center School District letterhead or email addresses.
Fellowship of Christian Athletes State Director Kevin Wade says it sounds like the changes won't have a drastic effect. He says he's never heard of a district not allowing school email to be used for FCA, but says he can see why they're doing it.
Gibson says the school board's attorney helped craft the changes to practices that didn't used to face legal scrutiny. There's case law, there's precedent set, so in the past there probably wasn't as much guidance on the gray areas, whats right and what's wrong--as time has gone on courts have sided with one side or the other it gives us more direction, more specifics on the way we should do it."
Meanwhile, Crow says her group will continue to fit in well at Valley Center High School.
"In school we always have Christ with us and we are shining our light, but we're not like shoving it in people's faces or anything like that."