The Biden administration modified its policies on prayer and other religious practices last week, cautioning school personnel not to support or encourage such behavior.
The US Constitution permits school employees to practice their religion in private while at work, the Education Department adds in its new guidance, noting that teachers, school administrators, and other staff members may not promote or forbid private prayer or other religious activities.
Education Department Warns Against School-Induced Religious Activity
School staff members cannot, however, compel, cajole, convince, or urge kids to partake in the employee’s prayer or other religious activity, the Education Department cautions.
The guidelines go on to state that schools may take necessary measures to make sure that children aren’t coerced or urged to participate in their teachers’ or coaches’ private prayers.
The advice comes at a time of year when there are many graduation ceremonies happening all around the nation.
As per the Education Department, public school administrators may not request or plan for prayer at graduation or choose speakers for such occasions in a way that encourages religious speech like prayer.
Nonetheless, if a speaker’s remarks are unrelated to the school, their expression—which includes prayer—cannot be curtailed due to its religious element.
Officials from the school may opt to offer appropriate, neutral disclaimers to explain that such communication (whether religious or nonreligious) is the speaker’s and not the school’s speech in such cases.
Read more: G7 Leaders Set To Announce Additional Sanctions On Russia As Zelensky Prepares For Japan Visit
Religious Expression in Public Schools
The Education Department offers suggestions on how public schools should handle various forms of religion besides prayer.
For instance, pupils are free to give their classmates religious material.
Nonetheless, they may not target religious literature for more lenient or more restrictive regulation.
Schools may place reasonable limitations on its dissemination.
The guidelines make a distinction between teaching about religion and giving religious instruction, identifying the latter as a regular component of the curriculum and the former as a means of supporting a particular belief system.
In terms of extracurricular activities, students have the same freedom to form prayer groups and religious clubs as they do to form other, secular activity organizations.
To prevent disturbances in the educational process, students may pray and participate in other religious activities in the classroom to the same extent as non-religious activities while they are not taking part in school-related activities or instruction.
After the Supreme Court ruled last year that a public school district could not forbid a football coach from praying on the 50-yard line after games, the Biden administration modified its policy on prayer in schools.
The Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District that it was unconstitutional to restrict someone’s right to freely exercise their religion and free speech by forbidding them from participating in such prayer as a personal religious observance.
Read more: Tim Scott Anticipated Presidential Bid Takes Off: Launching Ad Campaign In Lowa And New Hampshire