Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy’s Grammar School in Forest City, N.C., has ended teacher-led prayer and implemented a new policy on religion after a Nov. 6 complaint by Staff Attorney Patrick Elliott on behalf of a parent. A second-grade teacher led students in prayer before lunch each day.
The parent was later told the prayers would be replaced with a moment of silence, but the teacher reportedly instead called on a student to lead the prayer. Elliott noted that a moment of silence did not cure the problem because it was clearly intended for prayer.
The principal responded Dec. 1, attaching an extensive new policy the charter school’s governing board had adopted clarifying that while students remain free to pray on their own, “School administrators and teachers may not organize or encourage prayer exercises in classrooms. The right of religious expression in school does not include the right to have a captive audience listen, or to compel other students to participate.”