FFRF stops prayer in Hawaii middle school reading program (Oct. 31, 2014)

Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School in Honolulu will no longer allow a partner organization to pray with students after the Freedom From Religion Foundation sent them a letter.

The school holds ā€œFamily Reading for Successā€ events regularly. An attendee informed FFRF that a recent meeting opened with a sectarian prayer initiated by a nonprofit organization, Kula No Na Poe Hawaii, which partners with the school for the events.

ā€œIt is unlawful for any school-sponsored event, such as a meeting dedicated to student literacy, to include prayer,ā€ wrote FFRF Staff Attorney Seidel in a letter to the Hawaii State Department of Education on Oct. 31.

The schoolā€™s principal responded the same day, informing FFRF that he had followed up with the community partner organization and reminded them that all school-sponsored events must remain prayer-free.

Freedom From Religion Foundation