Minnesota —
FFRF has ensured that contracted bus drivers in Minnesota’s Milaca Public Schools system will no longer hand out to students religious messages attached to candy canes.
A parent of a Milaca Elementary School student reported that on Dec. 22, 2025, their child’s school bus driver gave students “WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets and a piece of paper with a candy cane tied to it. The paper had a religious message, with the candy cane making the letter “J”: “Jesus is my Savior who gave his life for me. Because of Him each of us can ever more be free. Jesus is the greatest gift the world has ever seen. So I’ll talk of Him at Christmas time, and all the days in between.”
The parent expressed their frustration to FFRF about school bus drivers passing out religious messages and bracelets to students, because they are not raising their children to believe in religion.
“In this case, the district violated parents’ trust by allowing a school bus driver to distribute religious messages and bracelets to students while acting in their official role as a school employee,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Superintendent Dave Wedin. “This not only violates students’ First Amendment rights, it violates parents’ constitutional rights to direct their children’s religious or nonreligious upbringing.”
Due to FFRF’s intervention, the district has thankfully worked to correct the issue. An email from Superintendent Wedin reported that the district had conducted an internal investigation to prevent further incidents.
“By working [with the contracted bus company], we were able to identify the individual involved,” Wedin wrote. “The company has addressed the matter appropriately with the driver to prevent any future occurrences.” Wedin also reported a proactive effort of speaking with other contracted transportation providers to reiterate the district’s secular expectations.
