Please show your appreciation of the Clark County School District for its adherence to the Constitution.
The district recently discontinued the practice of beginning school board meetings with prayer after receiving a complaint from FFRF. According to local reports, 30 pastors are planning to speak at the school board meeting this Thursday, Feb. 13, in protest of FFRF’s victory. It’s important that secular Clark County residents attend this meeting and speak up in support of this decision.
The school board, FFRF wrote in a letter to the district, cannot lend its power and prestige to religion, amounting to a governmental endorsement of religion that excludes the 24 percent of Americans who are nonreligious, including 38 percent of Americans born after 1987. FFRF successfully litigated the most recent case striking down a school board prayer practice, in which Chino Valley (Calif.) School District’s board paid out more than $280,000 in fees and costs.
The Clark County School District informed FFRF last month that the board will no longer begin meetings with an invocation. This is a victory for all families in the district. Keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing makes the community inclusive, regardless of religious beliefs. It also avoids opening the district up to a costly legal battle with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on the line.
WAYS TO TAKE ACTION:
- Contact the Clark County School District Board of Trustees and thank it for keeping school board meetings free of religious proselytizing. Click on the red “TAKE ACTION!” link below to be directed to the board’s comment page. Feel free to use or adapt the talking points provided. Personalized messages are the most effective.
- Attend the board’s meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 5 p.m. and share your support for this decision in person. Details can be found here.
TALKING POINTS
I want to thank the board for choosing to discontinue the practice of beginning each meeting with a prayer. This is a positive step toward making the district inclusive of all students and families, regardless of religious beliefs. It will ensure Clark County is not at risk of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a costly legal battle over settled law. Religious prayer at school board meetings is unnecessary, exclusionary and illegal. This board made the wise and responsible decision by deciding to forego prayer at meetings.
