Update, 7:29 p.m.:

The Connecticut regional office of the Anti-Defamation League has asked the Stamford Board of Representatives to reject the idea of leasing classroom space from a Catholic Church.

"While we understand and are sympathetic to the challenge of locating a suitable and affordable location for the program, we are deeply troubled by the proposed lease with the Church, which effectively allows the Church to dictate the content of the school’s curriculum and the speech of the school community and places a road block in front of the First Amendment rights of students and staff," Gary Jones, ADL’s Connecticut regional director, wrote in an open letter to the Stamford Board of Representatives.

A copy of the full letter and a news release about the statement are attached to this article. The Anti-Defamation League states on its website that it was formed in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all."

Original article:

The American Civil Liberties Union of CT has announced it's opposition to a St. Clement's Parish public school leasing application which would make way for a new alternative high school program.

“This contract shows a fundamental disrespect for the First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and religion...The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut urges the Stamford Board of Representatives to reject it,” ACLU-CT director Andrew Schneider said in a recent press release.

The St. Clement's Parish application will have it's final vote before Stamford's Board of Representatives at a meeting on Feb. 6, 2012, at the Stamford Government Center. According to the ACLU, the lease will grant "unconstitutional" powers to St. Clements, including the ability to ban sex education on the premises, as well as "speech or action" that contradicts doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.

“Public school students’ education shouldn’t be limited or dictated by any religious institution and public school teachers should never be forced to submit to religious training. Should this blatantly unconstitutional lease be approved, the ACLU of Connecticut stands ready to help any family with a legal challenge in
defense of their children’s constitutional rights,” ACLU-CT legal director Sandra Straub said.

The proposed lease also dictates that the city will pay the St. Clement school's legal fees in the event that they must enforce the terms of the lease.