A school in Wisconsin has gotten a written scolding from a legal team for banning a graduate from participating in a senior slide show with a Bible verse representing her thoughts about her accomplishments.
It is the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, representing Sarianne Beronja, that is insisting Arrowhead Union High School District remedy unconstitutional religious discrimination after school officials prohibited the graduating senior from displaying a Bible verse on her commencement slideshow.
The student was not trying to lead a prayer, hold a religious service or encourage anyone else to do that. And, the law firm pointed out, the school district had allowed students in earlier graduations to share Bible verses.
“Yet when Ms. Beronja sought to express substantially similar sentiments in 2026, the district prohibited her message,” the WILL letter to school officials said.
There’s no lawsuit, yet.
But WILL deputy counsel, Cory Brewer, said, “‘Separation of church and state’ is not an excuse to erase the viewpoints of students of faith. Arrowhead invited students to express themselves and approved countless secular messages, but when Sarianne shared a Bible verse that reflected her faith, school officials censored it. That’s unconstitutional. We are calling on the school board to immediately correct this violation and ensure no future student is subject to similar discrimination. If the district refuses to do so, our clients are prepared to pursue legal action.”
The student said, “I submitted a Bible verse that guided me throughout high school and helped shape who I am. It was meaningful to me and represented the values I wanted to carry into the future. I don’t think students should be told they can express any viewpoint except a religious one.”
She had chosen Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.” The verse reflected the faith that had guided her throughout high school and informed her future plans.
She had been responding to a request from the district for graduating seniors to submit personal messages to appear alongside their names during graduation.
They approved included jokes, song lyrics, words of gratitude, and even Venmo requests. But not the Bible verse.
“Among other remedies, we are asking the district to rescind any policy, directive, practice, or interpretation that prohibits student religious expression solely because it is religious in nature,” WILL said.
The legal team explained, “The First Amendment does not permit public schools to suppress student speech merely because it is religious. Once a school creates an opportunity for students to express their own views, it cannot exclude religious viewpoints while permitting comparable non-religious speech. The actions by Arrowhead appear to have done exactly that.”
The legal team explained, “Here, the critical question is not whether Arrowhead permitted students to express themselves. It plainly did. Students were invited to submit personal messages to accompany their graduation slides, and the district approved a wide variety of personal expressions, including statements of gratitude, inspirational messages, humor, pop culture references, song lyrics, and even requests for financial support. The question is whether students were permitted to express themselves only if their message was non-religious. The answer appears to be yes. A student who thanked parents, coaches, teachers, or friends could apparently participate. A student who thanked God could not. A student who shared an inspirational message from Batman could apparently participate. A student who shared an inspirational verse from the Bible could not. Such a distinction is quintessential viewpoint discrimination.”
Further, WILL said the school keeps insisting it is “obligated” to exclude religious content, although the Supreme Court precedent actually is opposite that.
