McDowell board pauses planned invocation after legal concerns; meeting begins with moment of silence

The McDowell County Schools board opened its meeting by updating members on recent legal guidance about prayers at public meetings and holding a moment of silence instead of an invocation.

The board chair said the district received correspondence from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in Wisconsin concerning adding prayer to the start of meetings. The chair said he consulted the superintendent and the board attorney and reviewed relevant legal constraints.

"For this to be constitutional, such prayer cannot be sectarian or proselytizing, and a board member prayer cannot favor or disparage a particular religion," the chair said, summarizing the legal guidance he received. He told members that the attorney would go over what the board can and cannot do and that the board would hear further guidance before making any change.

The chair then led the board in a moment of silence and asked members to "think about the things that we really need to be concerned with, especially our children in this county." A public speaker during comment later praised the board’s decision to pause and said the moment of silence put students first.

Ending: The board did not adopt a new invocation policy at the meeting; the chair said staff and the board attorney would review options and report back.