A former Wisconsin high school student is claiming religious discrimination after officials at her school prevented her from including a Bible verse in a slideshow at her graduation ceremony, citing the district’s policy on religious neutrality.
Sarianne Beronja, who graduated from Arrowhead High School in Waukesha County in 2026, had hoped to feature a passage from Proverbs 3:6 alongside her photo in a slideshow displayed during the commencement.
The verse she chose was: “In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”
Less than a day before the graduation ceremony, Beronja was informed by an associate principal that her chosen verse could not be used, citing a ban on religious messages.
School authorities reportedly also rejected her alternative suggestion, which was to include a thank you to God for His presence “beside me through these last four years.”
“My faith helped shape who I am,” she told Fox News Digital. “Over the past four years, this verse was something I kept coming back to that kept me grounded and moving forward.”
Superintendent Conrad Farner told Fox News Digital that religious and political messages were barred from the graduation slideshow because it is considered “school-sponsored speech.”
He said students were given explicit instructions to limit messages to family thank-yous and future plans.
“By defining the boundaries of the slideshow ahead of time (limiting the topic strictly to family thank-yous and future career/college plans), the expectations and limits were clearly articulated and established,” Farner said.
“The slideshow was never meant to be a forum for ANY religious or political viewpoints. It is an extremely brief picture of each graduate that allows for an extremely brief thank you or future plans. Again, the slideshow is district-sponsored speech, NOT a public forum.”
The school official cited the 1988 Supreme Court ruling in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which gives school administrators the right to restrict school-sponsored expression if it is “reasonably related to legitimate educational concerns.”
Farner said opening the door to political or religious expression would create a disruptive environment at graduation, adding that the school wanted to avoid a situation where students and parents would want to bring “signs and buttons and flags” to express themselves.
Going forward, Farner said the school will no longer utilize a slideshow at graduation.
However, Beronja told Fox News Digital she did not believe the school consistently barred religious statements at graduation, claiming students had included Bible verses and expressions of faith in past ceremonies.
The student and her mother are fighting the school district policy to protect future students’ expression, seeking help from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL).
“We are celebrating our country’s 250th birthday, and, after all, the United States was founded on being a nation of religious freedom,” Beronja said.
“I think the school district should make sure that students of faith are not treated differently because their expression is religious. Students shouldn’t worry that a Bible verse will be rejected when other personal messages are allowed.”
WILL has accused the district of violating the student’s First Amendment rights.
“Once a school creates an opportunity for students to express their own views, it cannot exclude religious viewpoints while permitting comparable non-religious speech,” WILL said in a press release.
“The actions by Arrowhead appear to have done exactly that.”
The organization is asking the Arrowhead Union High School District to immediately alter its policy to allow students of faith to receive “the same constitutional protections afforded to every other student.”
Cory Brewer, WILL deputy counsel, stated, “‘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.”
Brewer said WILL is prepared to take legal action if the district does not comply.