In Wilson County, TN, church-state controversies are not new to school officials. Last year, the ACLU successfully argued that Lakeview Elementary improperly promoted religion, including giving special access to a group of parents known as "Praying Parents".
No doubt especially aware of Establishment Clause concerns, and of the activities of that parent group, the school is now under fire from the other direction, after requiring some of those parents' children to cover up references to God and prayer in hallway posters advertising an upcoming "See You at the Pole" prayer event, a national initiative that takes place outside school hours and is, theoretically anyway, student-led.
So far, most of the press coming out of the incident is from the ADF, which has filed suit (pdf) on behalf of some parents and students. So, I'm trying not to jump to too many conclusions from just one side of an argument, and am sensitive to the efforts of school administrators to avoid the appearance of promoting religion improperly. They have – and should have – wide latitude of discretion in maintaining order. In censoring the posters the way they did though, school officials may have overreacted in those efforts. You can see pictures of the posters in question at The Tennessean's site here. Clearly, they were drawn by children, greatly reducing the chance of perception that it is a school-sponsored event.
I do have one maybe side question though. In the filing, ADF clearly states that the parents were aware they needed to include a disclaimer on advertisements that the pole event was not endorsed by the school or the county, as required by the court order coming out of last year's suit. As quoted by ADF, the court determined:
(g) Lakeview School may permit the See You At The Pole event and the National Day of Prayer event to take place on school property during non-instructional hours if the Wilson County Board of Education approves of such activities in advance in accordance with applicable written Board policy; further, no school system employee may organize or promote such events or attend or participate in such events except for the limited purpose of supervising students and/or public school property; further, any flyers, signs, posters, notices or announcements promoting such events must include a disclaimer that the Wilson County School System and the administration of the Lakeview School do not endorse or sponsor the events…
Looking at online photos of the ads in question, however, I don't see exactly that disclaimer. There does seem to be a "sponsored by Praying Parents" note, though that's not quite a clear statement of non-endorsement by the school. Maybe I'm missing it? Would the addition of such a clear disclaimer – as seems to be required by court order – have satisfied the school, rather than requiring the references to God and prayer be covered? Just a question/thought.
[UPDATE: ABP's Bob Allen adds this report to the story.]
