Franklin Co. School Board Member Offers View on PTO Prayer

by Chris McDonough

Special to the Messenger

As has been reported in the past week, the Franklin County School Board was contacted on Sept. 10 by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation. In its letter FFRF reported that, according to a parent, “during the last academic year, teachers at North Lake Elementary took it upon themselves to express their religious, particularly Christian, viewpoints.” These included, they go on to say, memos sent home at Christmas claiming “Jesus is the reason for the season,” and candy canes distributed with a Christian interpretation attached.

At the same time, the president of the Parent-Teacher Organization at North Lake also received a letter from FFRF, in which they allege that PTO meetings are opened with a Christian-based prayer, led by the president. They ask that this practice be stopped. As they write, “These prayers inappropriately alienate those that do not believe in the religious views expressed in the prayers. North Lake Elementary parents that do not share those beliefs are adversely affected by these prayers, which turn non-believers into outsiders of their children’s school.”

Based upon this information, Director of Franklin County Schools Rebecca Sharber directed the North Lake principal to make certain that all such activities in the school come to an end. In doing so, the director pointed to long-standing court rulings to the effect that matters of religion be kept out of public education.

It is not so clear whether the court rulings about prayer and public schools cover the activities of a Parent-Teacher Organization, which is a voluntary association. Because it is unclear, Sharber solicited the advice of the school system’s legal counsel. It was his opinion that, in order to minimize possible liability, the PTO be requested to substitute a moment of silence for an  opening prayer at the start of their meetings. On this advice, Sharber and the principal met with the PTO officers and advised them not to pray aloud, but they indicate they will do so at their next meeting.

The Franklin County School Board has regularly scheduled meetings at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, and Monday, Oct. 14, and because of the extraordinary interest in this topic, will meet at the FCHS auditorium. Large crowds, mostly pro-prayer, are expected to be in attendance.

My own feeling is that Sharber has acted appropriately in this matter, and in fact, I urged her to take the actions that she has. To my mind, the point of a PTO is to facilitate interaction between parents and teachers for the benefit of children in the school. I believe that FFRF has a point when they say that non-Christian parents feel alienated by the PTO officers’ actions, and it was hearing from one such parent that they became involved. More importantly, I believe the FFRF is looking for a reason to bring a lawsuit against a PTO on the matter of prayer.

While there are far more important matters before us—chief among them, the new 105-minute Reading Street program now in use in all county elementary schools—the issue has captured wide attention, and will need to be addressed by the school board. If these matters are of interest to you, I urge you to attend one or both of the meetings this month at Franklin County High School. 

McDonough is the elected representative from the Fifth District (Sewanee, Sherwood and Keith Springs) to the Franklin County School Board.