Schools forbid selling religion

Teacher relocated after Enloe episode

From now on, guest speakers in the Wake County School System must sign a document agreeing not to denigrate any culture, race, gender, national origin or religion.

That new rule was made in response to an incident earlier this year in which a guest speaker at Enloe High School denigrated Islam and urged students to shun Muslims.

The new rule grows out of a three-month investigation into an incident last February in which an Enloe High School social studies teacher, Robert Escamilla, invited a Christian evangelist to his classrooms. The evangelist, Kamil Solomon of Raleigh, asked students to embrace Christianity and distributed pamphlets calling the Prophet Muhammad a "criminal," "demon possessed" and "inspired by Satan."

Solomon's visit led to outrage in the Muslim community and to a 90-day paid suspension for Escamilla. On Wednesday, Superintendent Del Burns apologized about Solomon's visit and said Escamilla would be reassigned to another school. Burns did not name Escamilla's new school.

"On behalf of the Wake County School System I wish to offer my apology," Burns said. "It was not acceptable and it will not be tolerated."

Escamilla declined to comment until his suspension is lifted Friday.

Parents in the school system said they liked the new rules but wondered whether Escamilla, an 18-year veteran of the Wake County Schools, should continue teaching.

"I think they should have fired him," said Tariq Butt, a Muslim whose daughter, Saira, is a freshman at Enloe. Butt said Escamilla has a long history of proselytizing and would continue to pose a liability to the school system.

Greg Kaszycki, another parent, echoed those concerns. "If he understands what he did was wrong, I'm okay with it," said Kaszycki, whose daughter Alyssa, a freshman, listened to Solomon's presentation. "If he doesn't, he shouldn't be teaching."

Students at Enloe High School said they had long heard Christian overtures from Escamilla, and say he was known for his evangelical beliefs. Some described him as controversial. Others said he crossed a constitutional boundary on some occasions.

The school system concluded from its investigation that Escamilla's invitation to Solomon was unacceptable. Solomon's primary message was to convey his anti-Muslim and pro-Christian views, the school system said. That's a clear violation of the First Amendment, which courts have ruled prohibits promoting or demoting religion in public schools.

The school system's new rules spell out that proselytizing is prohibited and go on to say that a teacher has a responsibility to stop the presentation if a guest speaker violates the rules.

Azadeh Shahshahani, the Muslim coordinator for the state chapter of the ACLU, said she was happy with the new rules.

"We just hope no proselytizing will take place by speakers or by teachers," said Shahshahani. "We're going to keep watching."

But at least one student who listened to the presentation said she was sorry Escamilla won't be returning. "I know what he did was wrong," said Alyssa Kaszycki, 15. "But I think Escamilla should come back next year. He's kind of crazy, but I'm going to miss him."