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Teachers At Parochial School Say Contracts Not Renewed For Refusing To Prove Consistent Church Attendance

THOUSAND OAKS (CBSLA.com) — Two teachers at a Ventura County school say their contracts weren't renewed when they refused to fill out a "pastoral reference."

Lynda Serrano and Mary Ellen Guevara previously worked at Little Oaks Private School in Thousand Oaks, which began transitioning from being secular to religious in 2012.

The school began requiring teachers to fill out the document, which asked questions like "Does the person above attend your church faithfully?"

Both Serrano and Guevara refused to fill out the document and said their contracts weren't renewed.

"While both of them are Christians, one is Protestant and one is Catholic, they didn't think they needed to basically give up their rights in order to remain to be teachers," said Dawn Coulson, an attorney, who represents the teachers.

Coulson argues in the lawsuit that the teachers are "educators, not ministers" and what they do on their own time shouldn't matter.

She says the school is for-profit and must follow nondiscrimination laws.

"They got great reviews. The teachers liked them. The children liked them. The parents liked them. There was no reason to let them go," Coulson said.

But Pastor Rob McCoy said the teachers are considered ministers, and that it's a calling.

"We weren't concerned over their faith as much as we concerned with the fact that they were under authority to be able to do what they were doing," McCoy said.

A Ventura County judge recently ruled that the school did nothing wrong, saying it falls within a "ministerial exception."

"And we're thankful that it was ruled on the way we knew it would have been," McCoy said.

The teachers will have 60 days to make a final decision on whether to appeal the case. McCoy says he welcomes an appeal.

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