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RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS |
Date Reviewed / Approved: 06/04/2009 |
Policy Number: 3280.00 |
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Rescinds Policy Number: |
Issued: 06/04/1992, 10/20/2006 |
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It is the opinion of the Board
that the responsibility for religious training lies with the home, and/or
religious organization. No religious
belief or non-belief should be promoted by the Division or its
In regard to religious activities in the schools, it is the expectation
of the Board that teachers and principals will obey the law of the land as
interpreted by the Supreme Court of Virginia and the United States Supreme
Court. In dealing with questions
regarding the appropriateness of activities for the schools, the Supreme Court
has developed a three-part test in the case of Lemon v. Kurtman. This three-part test should be applied by
principals and teachers when considering the appropriateness of activities for
the school or classroom. The three-part
test is as follows: (1) the activity must have a secular purpose; (2) the
primary effect of the activity must neither enhance nor inhibit religion; and
(3) the activity must not foster an excessive government entanglement with
religion. [Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403
The following guidelines, provided by the United States Department of
Education, express the policy of the Board regarding religion and the
schools. These guidelines are offered to
assist in interpretation but are not intended to be comprehensive and inclusive
of all possible situations.
Student
prayer and religious discussion: The Establishment Clause of the First
Amendment does not prohibit purely private religious speech by students. Students therefore have the same right to
engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during the school
day as they do to engage in other comparable activity. For example, students may read their Bibles or
other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray before tests to the same
extent they may engage in comparable non-disruptive activities. Local school authorities possess substantial
discretion to impose rules of order and other pedagogical restrictions on
student activities, but they may not structure or administer such rules to
discriminate against religious activity or speech.
Generally,
students may pray in a non-disruptive manner when not engaged in school
activities or instruction, and subject to the rules that normally pertain in the
applicable setting. Specifically,
students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways, may pray and
discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same rules of
order as apply to other student activities and speech. Students may also speak to, and attempt to
persuade, their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to
political topics. School officials,
however, should intercede to stop student speech that constitutes harassment
aimed at a student or a group of students.
Students
may also participate in before or after school events with religious content,
such as "see you at the flag pole" gatherings, on the same terms as
they may participate in other non-curriculum activities on school premises. School officials may neither discourage nor
encourage participation in such an event.
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RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS |
Date Reviewed / Approved: 06/04/2009 |
Policy Number: 3280.00 |
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Rescinds Policy Number: |
Issued: 06/04/1992, 10/20/2006 |
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The
right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from
discrimination does not include the right to have a captive audience listen, or
to compel other students to participate.
Graduation
prayer and baccalaureates: Under current Supreme Court decisions, school
officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor organize
religious baccalaureate ceremonies. If a
school generally opens its facilities to private groups, it must make its
facilities available on the same terms to organizers of privately sponsored
religious baccalaureate services. A
school may not extend preferential treatment to baccalaureate ceremonies and
may in some instances be obliged to disclaim official endorsement of such
ceremonies.
Official
neutrality regarding religious activity:
Teaching
about religion: Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they
may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture: the history
of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other
scripture)-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the
Student
assignments: Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of
homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free of
discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home
and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance
and relevance, and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by
the school.
Religious
literature: Students have a right to distribute religious literature to their schoolmates
on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature that is
unrelated to school curriculum or activities. Schools may impose the same reasonable time,
place, and manner or other constitutional restrictions on distribution of religious
literature as they do on non-school literature generally, but they may not
single out religious literature for special regulation.
Religious
excusals: Subject to applicable State laws, schools enjoy substantial
discretion to excuse individual students from lessons that are objectionable to
the student or the students' parents on religious or other conscientious
grounds. However, students generally do
not have a Federal right to be excused from lessons that may be inconsistent
with their religious beliefs or practices. School officials may neither encourage nor
discourage students from availing themselves of an excusal option.
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RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS |
Date Reviewed / Approved: 06/04/2009 |
Policy Number: 3280.00 |
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|
Rescinds Policy Number: |
Issued: 06/04/1992, 10/20/2006 |
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Teaching
values: Though schools must be neutral with respect to religion, they may play
an active role with respect to teaching civic values and virtue, and the moral
code that holds us together as a community. The fact that some of these values are held
also by religions does not make it unlawful to teach them in school.
Student
garb: Schools enjoy substantial discretion in adopting policies relating to
student dress and school uniforms. Students
generally have no Federal right to be exempted from religiously-neutral and
generally applicable school dress rules based on their religious beliefs or
practices; however, schools may not single out religious attire in general, or
attire of a particular religion, for prohibition or regulation. Students may display religious messages on
items of clothing to the same extent that they are permitted to display other
comparable messages. Religious messages
may not be singled out for suppression, but rather are subject to the same
rules as generally apply to comparable messages.
The
Equal Access Act is designed to ensure that, consistent with the First
Amendment, student religious activities are accorded the same access to public
school facilities as are student secular activities. Based on decisions of the Federal courts, as
well as its interpretations of the Act, the Department of Justice has advised
that the Act should be interpreted as providing, among other things, that:
General provisions: Student religious
groups at public secondary schools have the same right of access to school
facilities as is enjoyed by other comparable student groups. Under the Equal
Access Act, a school receiving Federal funds that allows one or more student
non-curriculum-related clubs to meet on its premises during non-instructional
time may not refuse access to student religious groups.
Equal access to means of publicizing
meetings: A school receiving Federal funds must allow student groups meeting
under the Act to use the school media -- including the public address system,
the school newspaper, and the school bulletin board -- to announce their
meetings on the same terms as other non-curriculum-related student groups are
allowed to use the school media. Any
policy concerning the use of school media must be applied to all non-curriculum-related
student groups in a nondiscriminatory matter. Schools, however, may inform students that
certain groups are not school sponsored.
Lunch-time and recess covered: A
school creates a limited open forum under the Equal Access Act, triggering
equal access rights for religious groups, when it allows students to meet
during their lunch periods or other non-instructional time during the school
day, as well as when it allows students to meet before and after the school
day.
Revised May 1998
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RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS |
Date Reviewed / Approved: 06/04/2009 |
Policy Number: 3280.00 |
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Rescinds Policy Number: |
Issued: 06/04/1992, 10/20/2006 |
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In addition, it is the policy
of the Board that:
1. Religious holidays of all faiths shall be considered
during the preparation of the Division’s calendar.
2. A pupil’s absence from school to observe a religious
holiday is an excused absence. School
personnel should be aware of religious holidays and should make every effort to
avoid scheduling major examinations and events on those dates.
3. Each
program, play, or exercise will be carefully evaluated by school personnel with
reference to the following:
a. Time spent
in preparation and presentation must be educationally justifiable.
b. The planning
of programs should take into consideration the diverse religious faiths
represented in the community, student body, and faculty.
c. Students and staff members whose personal convictions
prohibit them from participating in
holiday programs will be excused without penalty. [Florey v.
4. The professional
staff, under the direction of the Superintendent, is directed to prepare
suitable guidelines for teachers who will be dealing with the subject of religions
and to prepare or secure suitable instructional materials subject to Board
review and approval.
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