MURRIETA -- A planned World AIDS Day commemoration organized by local high school students and scheduled to be held at St. Catherine's Catholic Church this weekend became the subject of a lawsuit filed Thursday against the Murrieta school district.

Richard Ackerman, a conservative, Murrieta-based attorney, said he filed the lawsuit because school district officials appeared to be sponsoring and promoting the event in violation of laws regarding the separation of church and state.

Ackerman said he believes the event contains overt religious references, and because the district office sent out news releases stating that "Murrieta Valley High" was presenting the event, it appeared to be a district-sponsored and sanctioned event.

"You can't mix religion with education," said Ackerman, a Catholic who has two children attending Murrieta schools.

The lawsuit is expected to be withdrawn today as a result of discussions between his law firm and attorneys for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, he said.

"It will get dismissed tomorrow after I have personally confirmed that all the promotional materials have been taken down (from district-sponsored Web sites)," Ackerman said.

The commemoration is expected to go on as planned at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the church, which is at 41875 C St. in Temecula.

Now in its third year, the event always has been held at the church. Although the program varies annually, it generally includes choir and dance performances, poetry readings, photo montages and a silent candlelight vigil. About 100 students are expected to participate this year.

The event is meant to coincide with worldwide AIDS awareness events on or around Dec. 2, and is organized by several student clubs at Murrieta Valley High School. Those clubs include the Gay Straight Alliance, the Black Student Union, Si Se Puede, Ballet Folklorico, and members of the high school's dance team and choir.

Mary Byun-Kallevig, a longtime English teacher at Murrieta Valley High School and the Gay Straight Alliance's faculty adviser, was personally named in the lawsuit. She said Thursday she believes Ackerman's lawsuit is unfortunate and misguided.

"Last year, the church's secretaries got hate phone calls (after the event) because they were allowing gays in the church," Byun-Kallevig said. "I hope people are reminded that AIDS is not a gay disease. It does not matter what your sexual orientation or race is. Anyone can get this horrible disease and we need to be compassionate."

She said the event is not a religious ceremony, but rather aims to serve as a way to educate people about the disease, as well as remember those who have died of it. She said the commemoration is initiated and organized entirely by students.

The church is simply a venue, she said, adding it's not unheard of to have student programs there, as the school choir is also slated to perform at the church next week.

As for the AIDS event, she said students raised money throughout this month to donate to the Aid for AIDS International charity, and that Sunday's event would cap off their efforts.

"The students are being involved, active citizens," she said. "They are working together to create change. It completely baffles me that someone could expend so much energy to cease and desist a charitable program."

Ackerman said he does not want to be misunderstood and that he has compassion for people suffering from AIDS. He said he was concerned about the program's contents, and that the district appeared to approve of them.

Specifically, he noted that the program is supposed to include opening remarks from the Rev. Benita Ramsey, a local clergywoman who also serves as director of the Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance, a support organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teenagers in the Inland Empire.

He also noted it is set to include songs with religious bents and a candlelight "recessional," which, he contends, is religious in nature.

"It ain't secular," he said. "It's an in-your-face religious political statement that a school district should not be involved in under any analysis."

Byun-Kallevig said Ramsey was invited to speak because she is a charismatic speaker, adding that the clergywoman had no intention to lead with prayer. She said that it is not uncommon for public school choirs to sing songs with religious overtones, and that those songs don't make an entire event or performance religious.

She boiled the entire issue down to semantics.

"If the flier had said 'Murrieta Valley High School's Gay-Straight Alliance presents,' we wouldn't be having this problem," she said. "A great huge ruckus was caused before all entire fact-finding was completed."

School district spokeswoman Karen Parris also said the event is student-sponsored. She said the lawsuit was in the hands of the district's attorneys.

"This is not a school-sponsored event and student participation is entirely voluntary," states a Nov. 28 memo to Ackerman from the district's attorney.

"The district takes no position, one way or the other, regarding the Catholic Church or gay rights, but it does recognize the rights of individual students to associate and freely express their views as individuals … on any Sunday evening."

Ackerman said he had asked the district's attorneys to issue a statement that they would promote every student club's performances, including students' evangelical Christian events. He said they declined.

"I don't want to be misunderstood," Ackerman said. "This is not about AIDS. This is motivated by the first amendment and (a desire to see a) uniform application of the law."