This article has been updated to reflect that the $200,000 settlement payment will be paid by the District's insurance carrier.
The Saucon Valley School Board has agreed to a $200,000 settlement with the “After School Satan Club” after previously refusing to allow the group to meet on school property. The lawsuit settlement likely represents the last official action to be taken by the incumbent school board members who will not continue serving after the Board’s reorganizational meeting next month.
Signed by Board President Susan Baxter on November 16, 2023, the settlement requires the district to “give TST [The Satanic Temple] and the ASSC [After School Satan Club] the same access to school facilities that other comparable organizations receive.” Additionally, the settlement prohibits any retaliation against the group and will result in a $200,000 payout from the District's insurance carrier.
In an email sent to district parents from February 20, 2023, Saucon Valley Superintendent Jaime Vlasaty stated, “Consistent with the law and criteria set out in SVSD Board policy and regulations, the District has approved an organization known as the “After School Satan Club” (ASSC) to host gatherings after school hours, in the Saucon Valley Middle School.”
The next day, another email was sent out to district parents from Superintendent Vlasaty, stating, “Due to a threat that was calling into the District, all schools and district campuses will be closed starting at 6:15pm this evening.” No additional details of the threat were provided at the time, with the email stating, “Local law enforcement has been notified and the threat is currently being investigated.”
In a third email to district parents on February 22, 2023, Superintendent Vlasaty stated, “In making the decision to follow the facility use policy regarding non district affiliated clubs and organizations, I could not anticipate the substantial disruption it has caused our students and staff through the threat, school closure and cancellation of student activities last evening.”
Then on February 24, 2023, in yet another email to district parents, Superintendent Vlasaty stated, “I am writing to inform our community… outlining my recent decision to rescind approval for the use of the school district’s facilities.”
In fact, prior to requesting approval at Saucon Valley, the ASSC had already been hopping from school to school causing a stir and making national news.
The Washington Post covered the ASSC back in 2016 in this article, highlighting how “the group at first intends to roll out the clubs in a limited number of schools in districts that also host an evangelical Christian after-school program known as the Good News Club.” Saucon Valley has had a Good News Clubs for many years, making them a known “target” to the ASSC.
In fact, there was a visible pattern leading up to the removal of the ASSC from Saucon Valley.
From February 13, 2022, Fox 5 Atlanta – “Satanic Temple opens ‘After School Satan Club’ at elementary school in Moline, Illinois”
November 22, 2022, Religion News Service – “’After School Satan Club’ at California elementary school stirs controversy”
November 28, 2022, WLWT News 5 – “After-school ‘Satan Club’ meeting held in Wilmington”
December 7, 2022, Newsnation – “Plans for After School Satan Club makes parents nervous”
February 3, 2023, Colorado Times Recorder – “The Devil in the Details: After School Satan Club and Public Education”
Unfortunately for the District’s taxpayers, SVSD was another on a growing list. In fact, less than a year prior to the incident at Saucon Valley, an elementary school in York, PA, faced the exact same issue.