North Carolina —
The Graham County Schools system in Robbinsville, N.C., has ended the practice of opening school board meetings with prayer after FFRF got involved.
A Graham County Schools parent reported that the board began meetings with a Christian prayer led by a school employee, frequently the assistant superintendent. FFRF learned of a prayer in February 2024 that featured multiple references to a “Lord” and “Jesus Christ.” FFRF also discovered that young students were visible in the front row of that meeting, and that a meeting in March 2024 featured several young students standing near the board as another prayer was delivered.
“Board members are free to pray privately or to worship on their own time in their own way,” FFRF Staff Attorney Chris Line wrote in February 2024. “Needlessly including prayer at board meetings excludes those who are among the 37 percent of Americans who are non-Christians, including the 49 percent of Generation Z who are religiously unaffiliated.”
FFRF continued to reach out to the district to urge them to respect the Constitution. In January, Superintendent Robert Moody reached out to FFRF, apologizing for the delay in response. “The letter you sent addressing ‘Unconstitutional Prayer at School Board meetings’ was presented at the previous school board meeting held Jan. 7, 2025,” he wrote. “The School Board members along with the school’s attorney addressed this concerned about the prayers during the meetings will not be an issue in future out of respect for the First Amendment Rights of and the diversity of the students and community.”
