During a school board meeting, a West Virginia school district was informed that their policy of having prayers read aloud over loudspeakers before football games are unconstitutional. According to the article, district officials were completely unaware that the Supreme Court ruled on this very issue in the case of Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000), with the majority ruling that:
“[Prayers] delivered on school property, at school-sponsored events, over the school’s public address system, by a speaker representing the student body, under the supervision of school faculty, and pursuant to a school policy that explicitly and implicitly encourages public prayer are not private, but public speech…Regardless of the listener’s support for, or objection to, the message, an objective Santa Fe High School student will unquestionably perceive the inevitable pregame prayer as stamped with her school’s seal of approval.”
After being informed that the existing policy was unconstitutional, the school district agreed to switch to a more inclusive (and entirely legal) policy of a having a moment of silence before each game. Public schools are secular institutions that need to be accessible to students of all faiths and none. No student should ever feel pressure from to participate in a religious activity against their wishes.
