Religious Expression in Public Schools
Student prayer and religious discussion: The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment does not prohibit
purely private religious speech by students. Students therefore have the same
right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during
the school day as they do to engage in other comparable activity. For example,
students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and
pray before tests to the same extent they may engage in comparable
nondisruptive activities. Local school authorities possess substantial
discretion to impose rules of order and other pedagogical restrictions on
student activities, but they may not structure or administer such rules to
discriminate against religious activity or speech.
Generally, students may pray in a
nondisruptive manner when not engaged in school activities or instruction, and
subject to the rules that normally pertain in the applicable setting.
Specifically, students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways,
may pray and discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same
rules of order as apply to other student activities and speech. Students may
also speak to, and attempt to persuade, their peers about religious topics just
as they do with regard to political topics. School officials, however, should
intercede to stop student speech that constitutes harassment aimed at a student
or a group of students.
Students may also participate in before
or after school events with religious content, such as "see you at the
flag pole" gatherings, on the same terms as they may participate in other
noncurriculum activities on school premises. School officials may neither
discourage nor encourage participation in such an event.
The right to engage in voluntary prayer
or religious discussion free from discrimination does not include the right to
have a captive audience listen, or to compel other students to participate.
Teachers and school administrators should ensure that no student is in any way
coerced to participate in religious activity.
Graduation prayer and baccalaureates: Under current Supreme Court decisions, school officials may not
mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor organize religious baccalaureate
ceremonies. If a school generally opens its facilities to private groups, it
must make its facilities available on the same terms to organizers of privately
sponsored religious baccalaureate services. A school may not extend
preferential treatment to baccalaureate ceremonies and may in some instances be
obliged to disclaim official endorsement of such ceremonies.
Official neutrality regarding religious
activity: Teachers and school administrators,
when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state and are
prohibited by the establishment clause from soliciting or encouraging religious
activity, and from participating in such activity with students. Teachers and
administrators also are prohibited from discouraging activity because of its
religious content, and from soliciting or encouraging antireligious activity.
Teaching about religion: Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they
may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture: the history
of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other
scripture)-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United
States and other countries all are permissible public school subjects.
Similarly, it is permissible to consider religious influences on art, music,
literature, and social studies. Although public schools may teach about
religious holidays, including their religious aspects, and may celebrate the
secular aspects of holidays, schools may not observe holidays as religious
events or promote such observance by students.
Student assignments: Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of
homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free of
discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home
and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance
and relevance, and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by
the school.
Religious literature: Students have a right to distribute religious literature to
their schoolmates on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature
that is unrelated to school curriculum or activities. Schools may impose the
same reasonable time, place, and manner or other constitutional restrictions on
distribution of religious literature as they do on nonschool literature
generally, but they may not single out religious literature for special
regulation.
Religious excusals: Subject to applicable State laws, schools enjoy substantial
discretion to excuse individual students from lessons that are objectionable to
the student or the students' parents on religious or other conscientious
grounds. However, students generally do not have a Federal right to be excused
from lessons that may be inconsistent with their religious beliefs or
practices. School officials may neither encourage nor discourage students from
availing themselves of an excusal option.
Released time: Subject to applicable State laws, schools have the discretion to
dismiss students to off-premises religious instruction, provided that schools
do not encourage or discourage participation or penalize those who do not
attend. Schools may not allow religious instruction by outsiders on school
premises during the school day.
Teaching values: Though schools must be neutral with respect to religion, they
may play an active role with respect to teaching civic values and virtue, and
the moral code that holds us together as a community. The fact that some of
these values are held also by religions does not make it unlawful to teach them
in school.
Student garb: Schools enjoy substantial discretion in adopting policies
relating to student dress and school uniforms. Students generally have no
Federal right to be exempted from religiously-neutral and generally applicable
school dress rules based on their religious beliefs or practices; however, schools
may not single out religious attire in general, or attire of a particular
religion, for prohibition or regulation. Students may display religious
messages on items of clothing to the same extent that they are permitted to
display other comparable messages. Religious messages may not be singled out
for suppression, but rather are subject to the same rules as generally apply to
comparable messages.
THE EQUAL ACCESS ACT
The Equal Access Act is designed to
ensure that, consistent with the First Amendment, student religious activities
are accorded the same access to public school facilities as are student secular
activities. Based on decisions of the Federal courts, as well as its
interpretations of the Act, the Department of Justice has advised that the Act
should be interpreted as providing, among other things, that:
General provisions: Student religious groups at public secondary schools have the
same right of access to school facilities as is enjoyed by other comparable
student groups. Under the Equal Access Act, a school receiving Federal funds
that allows one or more student noncurriculum-related clubs to meet on its
premises during noninstructional time may not refuse access to student
religious groups.
Prayer services and worship exercises
covered: A meeting, as defined and protected
by the Equal Access Act, may include a prayer service, Bible reading, or other
worship exercise.
Equal access to means of publicizing
meetings: A school receiving Federal funds must
allow student groups meeting under the Act to use the school media -- including
the public address system, the school newspaper, and the school bulletin board
-- to announce their meetings on the same terms as other noncurriculum-related
student groups are allowed to use the school media. Any policy concerning the
use of school media must be applied to all noncurriculum-related student groups
in a nondiscriminatory matter. Schools, however, may inform students that
certain groups are not school sponsored.
Lunch-time and recess covered: A school creates a limited open forum under the Equal Access
Act, triggering equal access rights for religious groups, when it allows
students to meet during their lunch periods or other noninstructional time
during the school day, as well as when it allows students to meet before and
after the school day.
Revised
May 1998
Department
of Education Web Page (Where letter of President Clinton and SOE
Riley and above document can be found)
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