The Freedom From Religion Foundation is pleased to see a religious shrine removed from a counselor’s office in Minnesota’s Mankato Area Public Schools system.
A concerned district employee reported that a school counselor at Mankato West High School had been using his position to promote his personal religious beliefs to students. FFRF’s complainant reported that the counselor displayed religious iconography in his office, including a basket of crosses for students to take. FFRF also learned that the counselor had previously displayed a religious shrine in his office that was taken down at the district’s request, but the shrine had been set up again, along with other religious items.
“It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the district or its agents to display religious imagery on school property in clear view of students and other employees because it conveys government preference for religion over nonreligion,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote to Mankato Area Public Schools Superintendent Paul Peterson. “Offering crosses to students is highly coercive in such a personal environment.”
FFRF pointed out that when a district employee uses their official position to promote their personal religious views, it sends a message of exclusion that needlessly marginalizes students and families among the 37 percent of Americans who are non-Christians, including the nearly one in three adult Americans who are religiously unaffiliated.
After FFRF’s letter, the district took action.
“Immediately upon receiving your letter, I met with the principal of West High School to review the situation and ensure that appropriate corrective action was taken,” Peterson responded. “The display in question has been removed, and I have full confidence that this matter has been resolved in a manner consistent with our obligation to maintain religious neutrality.”
FFRF is pleased to hear that students can once again seek guidance free from religious coercion.
“Public schools exist to educate, not indoctrinate into religion,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote. “It is more important than ever for students to feel safe when seeking guidance. Students cannot feel free to truly discuss their problems with a counselor who treats them as a literal captive audience to push their religion onto.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 42,000 members nationwide, including over 900 members in Minnesota. FFRF’s purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
May 22, 2025
