Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake, Ill., resolved several constitutional violations after getting an FFRF letter.
Staff Attorney Sam Grover wrote the school’s executive director July 8 to object to an assembly during the school day marking the installation of a “Freedom Shrine.” The mandatory assembly opened and closed with prayers. The Freedom Shrine was installed in a school building with a plaque engraved with the Pledge of Allegiance, on which the line “one nation under God” was in a larger, different colored and bolded font.
“Though teaching students about the history of our nation is a commendable goal, allowing an outside group to insert religious messages into a school assembly gives the appearance that PCCS endorses that group’s religious messages,” wrote Grover.
The director responded Nov. 7, informing FFRF that the school would prescreen future third-party presentations, watching for potential state/church violations. He also said the school removed the pledge plaque and held a staff meeting “to reiterate the neutrality toward religion in a public school.”