Graduation ceremonies in Perry Local School District, Massillon, Ohio, will no longer be held at the Faith Family Church. From now on, students wishing to participate in one of life’s most momentous occasions will not be excluded from doing so.
FFRF Senior Staff Attorney Rebecca Markert wrote to Superintendent Martin J. Bowe on Feb. 17, informing him that “It is unconstitutional for a public high school to force, compel, or coerce its graduation students, their parents, teachers, and other members of their families or friends, to violate their rights of conscience at a graduation ceremony.”
Bowe’s May 15 reply reported that the Board has “agreed to find a different site for the 2015 graduating class.”