Texas —

FFRF made sure that the Huntsville Independent School District in Texas was respecting students’ freedom of conscience by not sponsoring prayer events and keeping students from being forced to pray at extracurricular clubs.

A parent reported that Estella Stewart Elementary (ESE) hosted an official prayer event on Aug. 5. The complainant additionally stated that ESE’s robotics club sponsors force students to pray, and has forced their child to pray twice.

“To respect the First Amendment rights of students within the District, ESE staff should be counseled to refrain from discussing religion with students,” former FFRF Patrick O’Reilly Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi wrote. “That includes ceasing prayer and proselytizing during school hours, during a school activity, on school property, by school staff.”

The district reached out to legal representative Briah Gray from the Walsh Gallegos law firm in order to clarify the situation.

Gray confirmed that the prayer event was sponsored by the host church, Elkins Baptist Church, and the event was only held in the school’s cafeteria so attendees could be provided with air conditioning. Gray additionally stated that students were not required to or demanded to participate in the robotics club prayer. Regardless, Gray concluded by confirming that action had been taken to protect students’ rights going forward, as “the district has amended its practices and policies, as well as incorporated training to ensure staff do not engage in prayer or other religious activities during club meetings.”

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