Arkansas —
The Highland School District in Little Rock, Ark., has agreed to stop violations throughout the Highland High School, thanks to FFRF’s advocacy.
A district employee reported multiple constitutional violations at Highland High School, including on Sept. 5, 2025, when the Student Council president began a mandatory pep rally with a Christian prayer.
The same student again led the student body, faculty and visiting community members in prayer to begin a Patriot’s Day memorial ceremony on the same day, at which attendance was also mandatory for students and staff. The student’s prayer included multiple references to “Lord,” and “God,” and the student-led prayers were reportedly pre-planned.
Another violation occurred on Sept. 8, 2025, when a coach acting in official capacity requested via faculty-wide email that players be excused from class to attend a prayer circle for a teammate. Within two hours of the email, a school-wide prayer circle was announced over the intercom and students who agreed to participate were excused from class.
Finally, the school also reportedly had a practice of promoting the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) through the official district email system. The weekly invitations to morning meetings were being sent to all students in grades 9–12, as well as all faculty and staff through official school communications. FFRF was told that the district does not provide other student clubs, religious or secular, with the same kind of favored treatment and promotion.
FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district to outline the constitutional transgressions.
The district sought outside legal counsel in order to aid in seeing the violations corrected. “We reviewed your letter and met with the district, and I believe all your concerns have been addressed and resolved,” Attorney Cody Kees wrote to FFRF.
