Jane Smith has been a new principal of the only comprehensive high school in a s
ID: 460925 • Letter: J
Question
Jane Smith has been a new principal of the only comprehensive high school in a small mid-western town for just the past ten months of school. It is the last two months of school, Jane and her staff are preparing for the senior graduation ceremony. No sooner had they begun the planning when the school’s very popular ASB president, who had just recovered from a severe auto accident, and her senior classmates asked that the family’s minister open and close the graduation ceremony with a prayer as well as speak a few minutes about their classmate’s faith in helping her recover. Based on your reading and in essay format, how would you advise Jane Smith to handle this request without offending the students, their families, a popular town minister and minimize the threat of a legal challenge?Explanation / Answer
When it comes to religion, public schools must obey two legal requirements that are hard to reconcile: let it be, and push it away. These are the clashing and equally forceful commands contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution uses 16 words—known as the “religion clauses”—to create rules about how faith and government interact. One clause gives citizens the right to freely exercise religious convictions; the other prohibits government (including taxpayer-funded public schools) from establishing religion, meaning granting favorable treatment.
Thus, in this case, allowing a minister to conduct prayers for opening and closing of the ceremony could lead to legal issues. Instead, what Jane Smith could do is to allow the student to speak of her experience and recovery process. That would help in ensuring that key people are not offended while they remain on the right side of the law. The same should be communicated immediately and with empathy to ensure that there are no hard feelings.
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