(The Lion) — After a nonprofit filed a complaint against a Christian group holding National Day of Prayer celebrations on school grounds, an Iowa district originally agreeing to the event has decided to reverse its policy.
“In Iowa, several religious organizations as well as officials like Gov. Kim Reynolds have hosted and participated in National Day of Prayer celebrations throughout the state,” writes Robin Opsahl for the Iowa Capitol Dispatch.
The events take place May 1 across different locations – one of which included the Le Mars Community Middle and High Schools.
“Students were welcomed with donuts, breakfast burritos, orange juice, and hot cocoa – and more importantly, with open hearts and listening ears,” read a post on the “National Day of Prayer” Facebook page for Le Mars. “We took time to connect with students and asked them how we could be praying for them. It was a meaningful morning of ministry and encouragement.”
However, the celebration drew criticism from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a self-described group of “atheists, agnostics and skeptics of any pedigree,” according to its website.
“Public schools … shouldn’t be giving outside adults, outside groups, special access to students on schools ground to tell students about their religious message, to try to get them to join their religious groups, or anything like that,” said Sammi Lawrence, an attorney with the foundation.
After someone alerted the organization, the FFRF filed a complaint letter with the district urging them to “cease allowing religious organizations to hold events and proselytize students on school grounds,” according to Opsahl.
‘Entirely student-led or student-initiated’
The district responded to the complaint with a letter from attorney Rachel Fritz.
In the letter, Fritz explained the district’s “appropriate steps to ensure that any prayer activities occurring on school grounds are entirely student-led or student-initiated, in full compliance with applicable legal standards, including the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.”
However, the district later changed course and agreed to stop allowing religious groups to hold events on public school grounds.
As previously reported by The Lion, a majority of Americans surveyed in June expressed support for teachers to lead Christian prayer in public schools.
Such prayers – including a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer – used to be part of U.S. public- school schedules until the 1960s.
