You have just been appointed principal of a high school of 1,200 students (or have just been hired to teach at a local university) in a conservative community. You discover on your very first day that prayer is recited over the intercom, a scripture is read, and blessings are given before some students eat.
i. What specific components of the First Amendment are involved here?
ii. Discuss these violations with your faculty in the context of the following:

Establishment Clause
Free Exercise Clause
Excessive Entanglement
Principle of Neutrality
Devotional Atmosphere
iii. What steps should be taken to address the violations, if any, as cited above?

reply to this response:

The instances of reciting prayers, reading scripture, and giving blessings over the intercom before students eat represent the current actions and apparent culture of the high school.  While these actions may represent the values associated with those from this conservative community, the question becomes whether or not these actions are legal within the framework of the first amendment of the United States Constitution.  According to Essex (2016), these actions involve the issues surrounding ones freedoms involving speech and religion as related to their position within the school.  These actions appear to be a part of the schools daily operational procedures as these messages spoken over the intercom are broadcasted to all individuals in the building.

The practice of religiously inspired actions in schools is not necessarily forbidden, or illegal.  Students and staff members are free to practice prayers and blessings in schools, as long as they are done so privately or voluntarily.  That is, individuals within the school must be able to decide if they want to take part in such activities.  The public and regularly practiced prayers and blessings, however, cannot be conducted as they may be understood to be part of a schools daily operational practices.  All individuals are subjected to these messages if they are broadcasted over the intercom.  As described by Essex (2016), such practices would violate the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.  That is, a state employee does not have the legal right to pose any specific religion on the staff and students of any particular school since this school is not operating in a devotional atmosphere.  Therefore, the school must maintain a principle of neutrality that prohibits them from focusing on any one specific religion (Essex, 2016).  According to Essex (2016), incorporating religious doctrines into a schools daily operational procedures constitutes excessive entanglement in which the school is not acting as a religious organization.  The issue appears to be that the school was projecting these prayers and blessings to all staff and students via the intercom.  Those individuals offering the prayers and blessings did not consider that that some staff and students may have different religious backgrounds.  The recognition of alternative forms of religion is important in making these practices equitable to all individuals.

As a new principal to this high school, I would want to make sure the schools operational procedures are appropriately conducted.  Reciting prayers, reading scripture, and giving blessings over the intercom would immediately be stopped.  These practices do not appear to consider the religions and beliefs of all students and staff within the school.  Students and staff members will be encouraged to pray privately or in small groups.  There could also be a moment of silence each day for individuals to reflect upon their beliefs or values.  The values and beliefs of those individuals from this conservative community could still be maintained by adjusting the procedures by which students and staff reflect upon their individual beliefs and values.

References

Essex, N. L. (2016). School law and the public schools: A practical guide for educational leaders (6th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

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