FFRF has ensured that students at Battle Creek Middle School in Tennessee will not have prayer forced upon them at graduation ceremonies in future.
A community parent informed FFRF that prayer opened the May 23 Battle Creek Middle School (in Spring Hill, Tenn.) graduation ceremony. The prayer was delivered by the school principal, who gave an exclusively Christian prayer referencing Jesus Christ and a “Heavenly Father.” Prior to this, the principal even discussed the importance of prayer in his life.
FFRF wrote to the same school district in 2023, when the very same principal included several bible verses, as well as a prayer, to close out an awards ceremony. After that incident, Maury County Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Ventura spoke with the principal about the misconduct.
FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to Ventura after the prayerful May ceremony and the district appears willing to listen to reason.
Ventura wrote back to FFRF, reporting that corrective action had been taken. “I have investigated this incident and spoken with [the principal]. The actions of [the principal] violated the school district’s policies and procedures. I have issued a private letter of concern, and he has been instructed not to repeat this behavior going forward.”
