Texas —
FFRF worked tirelessly over the course of two years to ensure that the Liberty Hill Independent School District in Dallas put a stop to multiple actions of religious favoritism.
In September 2023, FFRF learned that the Santa Rita Elementary School’s principal had been inviting parents and students to a prayer gathering that took place in August 2023. FFRF’s complainant believed the school’s involvement in organizing and advertising the prayer gathering indicated that the school officially supported a particular religious viewpoint, making the complainant and their family feel marginalized in the school community.
In October 2023, FFRF again learned that the district was promoting religious events through official school media. A parent reported that the official Santa Rita Middle School Facebook page shared a post promoting and advertising See You at the Pole, a “global day of student prayer.”
Finally, in May 2024, while still having neglected to respond to the initial letters of complaint, Santa Rita Elementary hosted a religious service on the so-called National Day of prayer, promoting a service on the official Facebook page.
“Public school students have a First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination in their public schools, including when participating in school-sponsored activities,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence and Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to the district.
Despite the district’s silence over the course of 2023 and 2024, FFRF continued to contact the district to urge them to respect the Constitution. Finally, in April of this year, Amber King, legal representative from the district, got in contact with FFRF. “We have advised the district’s administration on the legal issues and district’s responsibilities regarding events such as ‘See You At the Pole’ or ‘National Day of Prayer’ and more generally on the issues of prayer at school and allowing equal access to its facilities,” King concluded.
