Florida —

FFRF worked with the Escambia County Public Schools in Pensacola, Fla., to ensure that religious guest speakers would not be allowed to promote their viewpoint to captive audiences of students.

A parent reported that on April 17, Longleaf Elementary School permitted an adult magician and evangelist from the organization Motivating Magic to perform for students during a school assembly. FFRF learned that the assembly took place on school property during the school day, and that, during the performance, the presenter gave students free tickets to a religious event billed as a “magic show” that same night at a local church where the kids would “learn about Jesus and the Christian faith.

“A school assembly is an environment ripe for unconstitutional religious coercion,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the district. “Elementary school students cannot simply leave the assembly without risking disciplinary action, nor is it reasonable to expect students this young to recognize their constitutional rights are being violated and dissent.”

After the incident and FFRF’s letter, Superintendent Keith Leonard emailed FFRF after addressing the concern. “Our district has established protocols governing the presence of guest speakers and presentations within our schools,” Leonard wrote.

The district’s revised protocols include a requirement for guest speakers to respect the religious viewpoint of all students, and advocating for a particular religious viewpoint would not be permitted.

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