Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Meeting Policy Legal topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
West Valley superintendent reiterates: school board may not sponsor or endorse prayer at board meetings, case law says
Summary
In the communications section the superintendent read a response to a public comment about prayer at school meetings, saying case law forbids a school board from sponsoring or endorsing prayer at its meetings and that public comment should not be used to create a de facto invocation.
At the start of the July 8 meeting Superintendent Dr. Peter Finch read a formal response to a public comment provided at the June 24 meeting. The response emphasized that school board meetings are governed by case law that bars a school board from sponsoring or endorsing prayer at a board meeting, and that the public comment period is intended for input and is not an appropriate way to create a "de facto opening invocation." The superintendent's statement was read into the record as the district's formal response to the June 24 comment.
The board did not take further action on the matter during the meeting. The district staff cited case law in the reading as the legal basis for the statement; the transcript excerpted the superintendent as saying, "A school board is prohibited from sponsoring or endorsing prayer at a school board meeting... Case law notes this specifically and prohibits, quote, the creation of a de facto opening invocation during the public comment period, close quote."
