The Freedom From Religion Foundation has once again stood up to ensure that the constitutional rights of students will be respected — this time in Missouri’s Steelville R-III School District.
A concerned district community member informed FFRF that a sixth grade teacher promoted to students a personal bible study taking place every morning before school. The teacher appeared to be orchestrating and teaching the before-school meetings. Additionally, the teacher read as part of the curriculum a book about witches, during which she denigrated witches and witchcraft (since it conflicted with her personal religious beliefs) and told students that Christianity does not look kindly upon witches.
“Public officials may not promote or advertise religious ceremonies when acting in the course of their official duties,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote to the district.
Students have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination in their public schools, FFRF emphasized. By promoting her personal bible study in class, this teacher coerced students’ attendance, and then preached her personal religious beliefs in the classroom when discussing witchcraft. The teacher placed students in a difficult dilemma: Either attend the bible study, affronting their conscience, or not attend — outing themselves as a different believer than their teacher. Similarly, it was inappropriate for the teacher to condemn witchcraft by introducing her personal religious beliefs into the classroom. Her control over the curriculum suggests that she planned the lesson with the intent to denigrate witchcraft.
After FFRF’s action, the district decided to correct the violations at hand.
The school’s legal counsel, Emily Omohundro, wrote back informing that while an investigation did take place, it involved confidential student and personnel information that could not be shared. “The district has taken steps to remind district staff of the district’s policies, including the requirement that staff avoid the promotion of religious views at school,” Omohundro wrote.
“Public school teachers are trusted to teach students secular subjects, and to leave religion to parents or guardians,” adds Joshi, a Missouri-licensed attorney. “Taxpayers should not have to support government officials who demean their religion. That includes teachers who pick on witches.”
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor agrees.
“This teacher’s behavior was unacceptable, and we’re glad to have taken action when we did,” she says. “No public school student should feel coerced into attending a bible study during class time, or have their beliefs be stomped on.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 40,000 members across the country, including more than 400 in Missouri. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
