Ohio —
FFRF is pleased to see the Maysville Local Schools system in Ohio realign with the Constitution by agreeing to keep church leaders out of high school graduation ceremonies after a pastor asked students to “submit to God.”
A district parent reported that Maysville High School included prayer at its graduation ceremony. FFRF was informed that a local pastor was invited to the podium to deliver a prayer during the ceremony. The pastor began his religious speech with an immediate bible quotation: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” The pastor also asked the audience to bow their heads in a prayer over the graduates that contained numerous references to “lord God” and asked that God “assist [the graduates] as they acknowledge and submit to you.”
FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote to the district over the concerns.
The district rightly concluded that students deserve the chance to celebrate their achievement in a religion-free ceremony. “Your letter prompted a review of the district’s commencement ceremony and of the legal issue you raised,” Superintendent Joe Daniels wrote in an email. “Considering the current court cases that have interpreted the First Amendment’s requirements as to religion and public schools, the district agrees that offering prayer at the commencement ceremony could be problematic. Therefore, the district is taking appropriate steps to alter this practice going forward for all school-sponsored ceremonies.”
