Costly Lawsuits Over School Prayer Hit Public Schools
In last year’s Supreme Court case, Kennedy v. Bremerton, the majority ruled in favor of Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach employed by a school district in Washington. Kennedy was asked to stop praying on the 50-yard line after games. The district argued that during this time, he was still “on duty” and perceived to be praying in his official job capacity as a coach - and the prayers were attracting a lot of unwanted attention and chaos at the games. Kennedy refused to stop praying publicly and was placed on administrative leave, eventually leading to legal action. The SCOTUS decision in June 2022 stated that school employees had the right to pray in a private capacity, and the majority considered Kennedy’s actions post-game to fall within this scope.Read more about Kennedy v. Bremerton here.
But Kennedy v. Bremerton isn’t the only school prayer case to make its way into a higher court. In Southern California’s Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), two school board members brought on a lawsuit when they not only prayed from the dias, but would also preach for upwards of ten to fifteen minutes at a time. The board members, Andrew Cruz and James Na, refused to stop their religious actions. Their refusal, combined with support from one other board member, cost CVUSD nearly $300,000 in legal fees. Na and Cruz were asked to stop by community members, but refused, leading the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) to file a lawsuit on behalf of concerned community members.
Jack Hibbs, leader of a local megachurch, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, encouraged the CVUSD Board to fight the lawsuit with a promise of paying all legal fees. The majority of the Board at that time voted to enter a legal battle, but the community voiced its displeasure with the unnecessary legal spending by electing a new board majority who swiftly stopped the lawsuit from any further action or appeals.
CVUSD never saw any of the money promised by Jack Hibbs and his church, and this case died just shy of an appeal to the Supreme Court. Read more about this case here and here.
The Kennedy v. Bremerton decision is renewing efforts by some to bring more prayer into public schools. CVUSD board member Andrew Cruz has incorrectly interpreted SCOTUS’s Bremerton decision to mean he could resume praying and preaching from the school board dias.
In a public school board meeting just after the decision was released, Cruz indicated he wanted the CVUSD Superintendent to look into bringing prayer back to the board meetings. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, who previously fought CVUSD in court, were alerted to Cruz’s interest in the Bremerton decision and issued an official letter of warning that the decision did not, in fact, allow for prayer in school board meetings. Read the entire FFRF letter to the CVUSD board here.
CVUSD is not the only district where religiously rogue school board members interpreted Bremerton as legal approval for public prayer. In January 2023, the Gateway Unified School District board members in Redding, California, voted 3-2 to open each meeting with a Christian prayer. According to local news, board member Lindsi Haynes can be heard praying and also saying the meeting time will be “committed” to “God.” Many parents have voiced opposition to Gateway’s new board policy, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation requested that the board immediately cease their public prayers. Read more about the ongoing situation here.