FFRF has helped end mandatory staff meeting prayers within a school district in Luray, Va.
An employee of Page County Public Schools informed FFRF that Superintendent Donna Whitley-Smith was including prayers during meetings that involved school administrators. During those meetings, meals were served and Whitley-Smith was calling upon the director of human resources to lead employees in saying grace.
FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott wrote to the district on May 11 informing it that, as a government entity, the district has a constitutional obligation not to promote religion.
The district responded on May 23 notifying FFRF that it had ended the prayer practice.