Staff in the Little Rock (Ark.) School District won’t be subjected to religious lessons at staff meetings in the future.
At Mabelvale Middle School’s Aug. 9 teaching staff meeting, the school invited a Baptist pastor to give a presentation, which included retelling biblical stories and other religious remarks. FFRF Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott called out this unconstitutional presentation in an Aug. 18 letter. “By imposing religious messages on its employees at district-sponsored events, the district is violating constitutional limits on government religious endorsement,” he wrote.
Replying promptly on Aug. 23, an attorney for the school district acknowledged that part of the presentation could be perceived as an endorsement of religion, and said the superintendent would send a written notice to all district principals “to remind them not to allow presentations at mandatory teacher meetings or in-service training which endorse a particular religious position or message.”
