After one parent objected to words posted in the Rhode Island school auditorium since it opened in 1958, and the ACLU threatened the school, labeling it "a prayer," the school now plans to change it, saying "it's an argument over very little."
UPDATE 8/17/10: School hears citizens' arguments, decides to study further
-- From "School Department won’t fight prayer case in court" by Maria Armental, Providence Journal Staff Writer 7/22/10
Strapped for cash, the School Department cannot afford to go to court, despite the appeal of fighting to uphold words that exhort Cranston High School West students to behave honorably to bring credit to their school, school officials said Wednesday.
Instead, the School Committee is discussing a compromise: to drop all religious references from the school prayer, turning it into a creed similar to the one at Cranston High School East, while keeping its message intact. The committee is expected to take action on Aug. 16.
The latest chapter in the often acrimonious debate over separation of church and state surfaced when the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to Supt. Peter L. Nero on July 6, after receiving a complaint from an unidentified mother who attended an event in the high school auditorium.
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