Minnesota —
After learning of ongoing prayers at staff meetings in the Schoolcraft Learning Community in Minnesota, FFRF helped the district update meeting guidelines to create a welcoming community for all employees.
An employee reported that SLC was regularly opening mandatory staff meetings with bible readings. According to the employee, SLC teachers rotate through leading these staff meetings and are encouraged to begin each meeting with a reading. The reading, according to the staff website, “can be used to serve as a point of inspiration; to preview the day’s activity; to provide a topic on which to reflect; and to serve as a demonstration of one of the Core Values or Habits of Scholarship.” The employee reported that SLC administration was allowing staff to begin these meetings with readings from the bible from at least November 2024 and into November 2025, when FFRF wrote the letter of complaint.
The employee told FFRF that they excused themselves from the meetings several times when bible readings occurred. “I feel sick to my stomach with anxiety before each meeting not knowing what reading and message will be pushed. I feel embarrassed, disrespectful and unprofessional when I have to excuse myself in the middle of a staff meeting for the reason of preserving my rights,” they wrote. FFRF learned that SLC’s administration received complaints regarding religious readings at the mandatory staff meetings, and the employee who contacted FFRF feared retaliation from SLC administration for exercising their rights to abstain from religious practices while at work.
FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence sent a letter to the learning center, writing, “Keeping open readings secular costs nothing, excludes no one, and welcomes everyone.”
After receiving FFRF’s letter, the district consulted legal counsel to find the best solution. After the school board reviewed the situation, Superintendent Mark Bjornrud wrote an email detailing the steps the district had taken as corrective measures. “We have since clarified that the portion of the Staff Circle that is led by a different staff member each month should mirror the expectations, substance and structure as the morning crew circles that teachers hold in their classrooms each day,” Bjornrud wrote. “We have put together and conducted all staff training on the expectations and structure for these circles. Clarifying language will also be included in our staff handbook.”
