No teacher-led prayer in Doniphan

A federal judge in St. Louis has ordered the Doniphan, Mo., public schools to end teacher-led prayers at school assemblies.

The consent judgment will end a decades-old practice in the school district, American Civil Liberties Union officials said Tuesday. The ACLU successfully argued that the prayers in school violated the constitutional separation of church and state.

U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey's order prohibits the school district and its employees from holding school-initiated or school-sponsored religious activities, including prayer.

The judge wrote that his ruling doesn't limit the right of any student to voluntarily pray in a non-disruptive way during non-instructional time. The order was based on a negotiated settlement, the judge said.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson school officials said the ruling will have no effect on their schools because school employees don't lead students in prayer.

Students can meet voluntarily to pray before or after school, said Jackson superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson.

Cape Girardeau Central High School principal Dr. Mike Cowan said two student groups last year separately used classrooms for prayer and Bible study before school.

Cape Girardeau school superintendent Dr. David Scala said the district's policy prohibits school employees from leading students in religious services.

Legal experts say the ruling shouldn't come as a surprise. "This is not a change in the law by any means," said local lawyer Diane Howard, who has provided legal advice to the Cape Girardeau School District.

Howard said school districts must take into account a diverse student body.

"What is one person's prayer is not necessarily the prayer of everyone," she said.

Doniphan schools superintendent Kevin Sandlin was in meetings much of the day and couldn't be reached for comment. The district in Ripley County has some 1,700 students.

The ACLU filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on July 21 in behalf of a non-Christian parent and her two elementary school-age children.

The complaint centered on school assemblies that were held in May at Doniphan Elementary School. The assemblies began with teacher-led prayers.

Such a practice was common in the school district but went against the long-established separation of church and state, said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU of Eastern Missouri.

Rothert said the ACLU tried to settle the issue without filing a lawsuit but was unsuccessful. The school district sought to continue having prayer at school assemblies but to have it led by a student chosen by the school administration, he said.

"They just didn't get it. Parents, not principals, get to choose whether their children are exposed to religious activity. It's not the job of public schools to proselytize,' Rothert said.

School officials didn't carry on their fight once the case was filed, he said.

ACLU executive director Brenda Jones said public schools shouldn't promote particular religious viewpoints. "The faculty and administration in Doniphan were openly violating the Bill of Rights. That is not a good example to set for students," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123