School Prayer Case Settled, School Agrees to Limit Prayer, Religious Activity
A Missouri school district has agreed to restrict its faculty’s religious activities related to school groups.
The decision came after a complaint was filed against the Fayette School District in Federal court.
In 2013, the American Humanist Association (AHA) filed in U.S. District Court, a complaint on behalf of a student, the student’s mother and a former student. It claimed the school district acted unconstitutionally by announcing weekly prayer meetings of a Christian group over the intercom.
The complaint also alleged teacher Gwen Pope, who is no longer with the school district, sponsored a Christian student group, prayed with students and displayed personal religious materials in the classroom.
The complaint also named Darren Rapert, the former High School Principal, who made announcements of the weekly prayer meetings over the public address system for the Christian student group.
In a statement issued by Superintendent Tamara Kimball, “after months of investigation and interviews the district determined that virtually every allegation made by the plaintiffs was false, misleading or taken out of context,” in response to the lawsuit.
“As a result, the district agreed that the one allegation we did confirm as accurate, the content of the morning announcement, would be a simple concession to make so we could put this lawsuit behind us and continue our mission of educating students.”
She said changes would be made in the student handbook to make it “abundantly clear” the school district doesn’t endorse religion.
She added it was fiscally responsible to reach a settlement than to litigate the complaint. The court ordered the school district must pay $41,000 in legal fees to AHA and its lawyers.
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