Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash
A concerned Arkansas parent no longer has to choose between protecting their 5-year-old from school-sponsored religious activity and letting the child share a special field trip with classmates.
Lakeside Primary School, located in Hot Springs, had planned an Oct. 1 kindergarten field trip to Family Farm Christian Day Camp. The parent complainant personally visited Family Farm last year and witnessed religious activity there. When the school sent home permission slips in early September, the parent objected to an official public school trip to camp with a pervasively sectarian mission.
The parent first raised the issue directly with the school. Principal Amanda Sarver confirmed that previous school visits to Family Farm had included “a brief prayer in the morning after the pledge” and that there could also be “brief comments that reference being thankful to God.” Students were not required to participate, the principal said.
But having to opt their child out of the field trip because it was inappropriate did not feel like a real solution to the parent. They wanted their kindergartner to enjoy the same educational and social experience as classmates without first needing a lesson in how to navigate religious activity at a public school event.
“I don’t want to exclude [my child] from fun school experiences with [their] classmates because of this,” the parent told the school.
“I don’t think it’s fair that a 5-year-old should have to grapple with this distinction in the context of a public-school field trip,” the parent wrote. “I would much rather be able to send [them] on a school field trip without having to prepare [them] for the possibility of religious activity.”
That is when the parent turned to FFRF.
“My concern is not that a private Christian organization exists or that individual students or staff members hold religious beliefs,” the parent explained to FFRF. “My concern is that a public elementary school is sponsoring and organizing a kindergarten field trip to a location identified as a Christian day camp, where religious activity has occurred as part of the experience.”
FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Lakeside School District Superintendent Bruce Orr on Sept. 22, explaining that public schools cannot place families in the position of choosing between an important school experience and avoiding unconstitutional school-sponsored religious events.
The district acted immediately.
The very next morning, Orr informed FFRF that Lakeside would not proceed with the trip to the Family Farm Christian Day Camp. Instead, the district is planning an alternative kindergarten outing and is considering the Mid-America Science Museum and a local botanical garden.
“We intend to preserve the opportunity for our kindergarten students and their families to enjoy this special experience together while ensuring the school-sponsored activity is appropriate for all students,” Orr wrote in an email.
Orr also acknowledged the district’s constitutional responsibility: “Lakeside respects the individual religious beliefs of all of our students, families, and staff. We also recognize our responsibility as a public school district to ensure that school-sponsored educational opportunities do not promote or favor particular religious beliefs or practices.”
FFRF commends Orr and the Lakeside School District for taking the parent’s concerns seriously and responding promptly.
“This is exactly how public schools should respond when it becomes aware of a First Amendment violation,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Every activity in a public school should be educational, inclusive and welcoming to all. Young and impressionable students should never be taken on a religious field trip as part of a public school activity.”
FFRF is pleased that Lakeside students will still get their field trip, with the educational experience and childhood memories that come with it, while leaving religious instruction where it belongs: with families and religious organizations, not public schools.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With nearly 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including hundreds of members and a chapter in Arkansas, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
