On The Front Lines
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Issue Draft Board Policy on Del. School District's Practice of Opening School Board Meetings with Invocation
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Agree to Defend School Board Members from Potential ACLU ThreatWILMINGTON, Del. -- In response to a request for help, Rutherford Institute affiliate attorneys have prepared a draft resolution for the Indian River School District Board of Education in Sussex County, Del., regarding the board's practice of opening school board meetings with prayer. A copy of the proposed draft policy is available by clicking here (PDF).
An official with the IRSD Board of Education contacted The Rutherford Institute for help after the Wilmington, Del., branch of the ACLU demanded that the school board stop opening their monthly business meetings with a prayer. Despite pressure from the Wilmington chapter of the ACLU to cease issuing prayers at public events, officials with the IRSD opened a recent school board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004, with a brief invocation. Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have agreed to represent Reginald Helms, vice president of the IRSD Board of Education, in his individual capacity should the Delaware school district's practice of opening meetings with a brief prayer be challenged. The proposed resolution will be introduced at a future board meeting and voted on by the Board of Education. The five-part policy states that "in order to solemnify School Board proceedings, it is the policy of the Board to open its meetings with a prayer or a moment of silence, all in accord with the freedom of conscience of the individual adult Board member." The policy also states that the prayer, which would be voluntary and given by an adult Board member on a rotating basis, may be sectarian or non-sectarian in nature, in accordance with the freedom of conscience, speech and religion of the individual Board member, and his or her particular religious heritage.
Several hundred members of the community gathered at Frankford Elementary School on Aug. 24, for the monthly business meeting of the IRSD Board of Education, to see whether the school board would cede to pressure from the ACLU. Those gathered broke into applause after Board President Harvey Walls asked board member Dr. Donald G. Hattier to lead the board in a word of prayer. Hattier read a prayer given by George Washington during the Revolutionary War: "Almighty God, We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection: that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee. Amen." During the business meeting, the board also issued a first reading of a policy concerning school prayer at baccalaureate and commencement ceremonies, which states that student-initiated, student-delivered, voluntary messages may be permitted during graduation ceremonies.
The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization committed to defending constitutional and human rights.
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