According to reporting from WBRE Eyewitness News, nearly six dozen students from Abington Heights High School met by a flagpole on school grounds this morning to pray at an event dubbed “See You At The Pole.” It is well-established that school-sponsored prayer is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the United States constitution, but was this event school-sponsored prayer and was it a church/state violation?
The article by WBRE notes that the “See You At The Pole” event, a “public display of prayer on campus” including students lifting “their voices in prayerful song” on school grounds, was organized by students. The article also notes that several adults, including Principal Pam Murray, attended the event and supported the “prayerful students.” Principal Murray said the following, commenting on the event, “If they can take those core values that they're sharing with one another here today and apply them in the classroom then it certainly helps to make our school community and community at large a better place.”
It is currently unknown whether the prayer event took place during school hours or if the event was promoted by the school beforehand, but it appears that Principal Murray, a representative of the school, endorsed this event through her statement when, instead, school officials should be neutral on matters of religion and abstain from supporting students who engage in student-led prayer.
Commenting on the prayer event, student Lizzie Walker noted that “It's just an opportunity for kids to kind of take a stand and come out here and show that they're Christians and they're believers and that they really have something they want to share with others.” Student Jordan Dinger said “The people in our society need Christ.” Principal Murray notes that students should “take those core values that they're sharing with one another here today and apply them in the classroom.” Which values is Principal Murray referencing?
The legal team of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group whose purpose is to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, has been contacted and will investigate in order to see whether there was an infraction. A member of the NEPA Freethought Society, a local group of non-theists predicated on support and community serving as a watchdog group dedicated to protecting the separation of church and state, has notified the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
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