Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Free Speech Prayer topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Superintendent says legal counsel advised that school board meetings cannot open with invocation during public comment
Summary
District superintendent relayed legal counsel's advice after a Sept. 9 public comment about prayer, telling the board that case law prohibits using the public comment period to create a de facto opening invocation.
At the Sept. 23 meeting the board included a response to a Sept. 9 public comment about prayer at school board meetings.
According to the packet summary read at the meeting, the superintendent contacted the community member who raised the concern, consulted legal counsel and relayed that the district must follow the relevant case law. The packet language stated that "schools are prohibited from having an invocation" and that a court had "ruled that the public comment section of a school board meeting cannot be used for the creation of a de facto opening invocation during the public comment period." The board accepted the response as part of the communications section of the agenda.
The district did not cite a specific court case or provide a written opinion in the public packet; the summary in the board packet reflects the superintendent's account of counsel's guidance.
