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<\/source><\/picture>A separation of church and state advocacy group that touts itself as the largest atheist legal group in the nation is lauding a school district that agreed to reprimand a teacher who handed out \u201cprayer cards.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement <\/a>released on Oct. 17, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which had contacted the school district accusing the teacher’s actions of violating the U.S. Constitution, announced that it had \u201csuccessfully persuaded the Jackson County School District to reprimand a teacher and update staff training after a middle school teacher placed \u2018prayer cards\u2019 underneath students\u2019 desks.\u201d The Jackson County School District is located on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.\u00a0<\/p>\n FFRF first contacted the Jackson County School District about the situation via a Sept. 12 letter<\/a> to the district\u2019s legal counsel Jack Pickett. Legal fellow Samantha Lawrence said that \u201ca concerned District community member reported that [an] East Central High School teacher,\u201d whose name was redacted in the publicly available version of the letter, \u201crecently placed cards with prayers written on them underneath all of her students\u2019 desks during the first week of school.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe write to request that the District investigate this matter and ensure that its teachers refrain from using their positions to proselytize and promote prayer going forward,\u201d she stated. Lawrence insisted that \u201cstudents have the right to be free from religious indoctrination in the public schools,\u201d pointing to the teacher\u2019s actions as a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution.\u00a0<\/p>\n A screenshot of a Facebook post written by a separate teacher whose name was redacted shows a general request that people pray for students and teachers, along with her publicly shared plan to give each student a prayer card, and was accompanied by the FFRF’s letter to the school district. FFRF included the Facebook post in its demand letter because the teacher who wrote the post claimed to have been inspired by the teacher who was reprimanded for distributing prayer cards to her students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The unnamed teacher added that she planned to \u201cwrite my prayer on a card and place it in their book bags.”<\/p>\n She added, “It\u2019ll be there any time they feel depressed, anxious or just need to know how much they are valued and loved. … \u201cThis idea was inspired by\u201d the teacher in question, noting that \u201cshe\u2019s placing prayer cards under each of her [students’ desks].\u201d<\/p>\n Pickett responded<\/a> to FFRF on Oct. 4 outlining the actions the district took to address the atheist group\u2019s concerns. \u201cUpon receipt of your letter, Superintendent, David Baggett, immediately directed Assistant Superintendent, Monty Noblitt, to investigate the incident,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n According to Pickett, \u201cThe investigation revealed that the teacher identified in your letter had indeed placed prayer cards under the desks of her students at the beginning of the school year after having earlier requested that prayer cards be sent to her for that purpose on Facebook.\u201d<\/p>\n After clarifying that the conduct occurred at East Central Middle School as opposed to East Central High School, Pickett explained that \u201cthe teacher in question was officially reprimanded on September 13, 2023, by the Principal of East Central Middle School.\u201d<\/p>\n Pickett added that \u201cthe letter of reprimand stressed the seriousness of the teacher\u2019s misconduct and expressly stated that teachers are prohibited from using their positions to promote personal religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe letter also stated any expressions of religious view points in the classroom and like settings is considered a constitutional violation and must cease immediately,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n Pickett also pointed to the presentation of a slide show titled \u201cReligion in Our Schools\u201d that was shown to all district principals so they could train district personnel on \u201cthe legal framework regarding religion under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution\u201d as they seek to \u201cprevent similar conduct from occurring in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n After describing the \u201csteps the district has taken\u201d as \u201csatisfactory,\u201d FFRF shared a statement from the organization\u2019s Co-President, Annie Laurie Gaylor, who argued, \u201cThis teacher deserves an \u2018F\u2019 for presenting her vulnerable young students with prayer cards in their first week of school. Our public schools exist to educate, not to indoctrinate children in the religious faith of their teachers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n