Missouri —
The Alton R-IV School District in Ash Grove, Mo., took FFRF’s advice and agreed not to advertise religious graduation events via official school channels.
A district parent reported that Ash Grover High School sponsored and advertised a baccalaureate ceremony on May 13. The school advertised and promoted the ceremony alongside official school graduation events on its official Ash Grove High School Facebook page. The advertisement included a quote from the bible as well as a photograph from the church where the ceremony took place. The event was also added to the official online school calendar.
The program featured the school’s logo and trademark colors. The program’s design, along with the persistent promotion by the school, strongly suggested that the school was involved in organizing the baccalaureate ceremony and may have contributed school resources or staff time to the event.
After receiving a letter from FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence, the district reached out to legal representative Emily Omohundro. Omohundro informed FFRF that the district did not sponsor or plan the event. “The district did not intend for this advertisement to convey a favoritism toward religion over nonreligion, and Christianity above all faiths,” she wrote. “Going forward, the district agrees that it will no longer share information regarding this event or include it on the district’s school calendar so as to avoid any indication of sponsorship or involvement in this event by the district.”
