For background, read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Mississippi
Also read about laws to bring prayer to schools in Texas, and Louisiana, and North Carolina, and Missouri, and Mississippi, and Florida, and Tennessee.
-- From "Arkansas School District Cancels Graduation After Complaint Over Prayer Planned For Ceremony" by Meredith Bennett-Smith, The Huffington Post 5/9/13
Controversy over whether or not prayer would be a part of an Arkansas elementary school's graduation may have led school officials to simply cancel the district's sixth-grade ceremonies altogether.
The controversy began on April 15, when the district received a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), notifying officials that a parent had complained about prayer at the graduation.
Tommy Knight, the superintendent of the Riverside School District . . . emailed [this] statement to HuffPost . . .
For several years district personnel had been discussing whether to continue sponsoring 6th grade graduation. At the May 6, 2013 meeting, the Riverside School Board approved the motion for the District to no longer sponsor 6th grade graduation.To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "School Cancels Graduation Over Prayer Controversy" by Todd Starnes, Foxnews.com 5/8/13
The Freedom From Religion Foundation said they were acting on behalf of an unidentified, “concerned parent.”
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United [for Separation of Church and State], told Fox News the school district’s response was foolish.
“When a school system is told not to include one item and then they get angry and frustrated and stop the entire rest of the ceremony – that is a foolish, ridiculous response,” Lynn said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Grade school graduation canceled following prayer controversy" by Veronica Smith, Video Journalist, KAIT-TV8 (Jonesboro, AR) 5/7/13
Sixth grade parent Kelly Adams said saying a prayer at graduation has never been an issue before which is why a lot of parents are very upset.
"As Christians and a mainly Christian town I think, there were a lot of people hurt that our rights were taken away," Adams said.
"A lot of the parents, the Christian parents decided to get together and do it at the church," she said.
"We are including everyone, everyone is invited, we want everyone to come and be a part of it," she said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Arkansas School District Cancels Graduation Rather Than Allow Prayer" by Bethany Blankley, Christian Post Contributor 5/11/13
On the Alice Stewart Show, 96.5 FM, the local Fox News Radio station, the Rev. Arthur Hunt Jr. of Hunt Memorial Cathedral of Faith argued that, "God is in school forever. Our Constitution allows us to see our purpose in this nation of being under God," referring to the Pledge of Allegiance, in which students state, "one nation under God."
"God is everywhere, from home, to school, to community," Hunt said. "God is in too many bus drivers, He's in too many teachers, too many janitors, principles, athletes, songs, plays, He's in too many civic and history books, where the president and governor refer to God.
"Do we want to wait for another bomb or a mass shooting before the assembly and prays again?"
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
