School board’s prayer to go on to federal court
The Indian River School District reached a partial settlement Tuesday morning with two families who filed a federal lawsuit in 2005 accusing district officials of violating their First Amendment rights by aggressively promoting Christianity.
“It is the history and custom of this board that we open the meeting with a moment of prayer,” said Charles M. Bireley, member of the Indian River School District Board of Education at the Tuesday, Feb. 26, board meeting. “According to a stream of conscious by the individual adult members of the board, participating in this prayer is voluntary. No school employee, persons in attendance or member of the community is required to participate in any such prayer at this time.”
The disclaimer came Tuesday evening, at the start of the first board meeting following the settlement decision that had been reached earlier that day, and it was patterned on a disclaimer used by the board since the issue of religious favoritism had first been raised formally more than three years ago.
This week’s settlement, as reached by the parties in the case, forces Indian River to adopt amendments to district policy that will bring its policy on religion “in line with the (U.S.) Constitution,” said Thomas J. Allingham, a Wilmington-based attorney working for the plaintiffs.
Board members helped craft policies included in the settlement, the board’s attorney said.
Tuesday’s settlement does not address the issue of board members praying at the start of their meetings — perhaps the most contentious issue. The prayer policy has been handled separately from all other claims and was the only issue left unresolved. Both parties expect a federal judge to decide one way or another on the issue, potentially establishing precedent for similar cases nationwide in the future.
The settlement also included a financial component, the details of which remained sealed Tuesday. Both attorneys confirmed that the board’s insurer paid the settlement, although the insurance company itself remains a party in its own suit against the district for attorney fees accumulated after the board rejected a previous settlement offer in February of 2006.
Allingham emphasized that it was important to his clients that “no dollars were taken out of the education budget of the district.”
Mona and Marco Dobrich, who are Jewish, along with their children and another Indian River School District family that has remained anonymous, filed the suit against the district on Feb. 28, 2005.
According to the 41-page complaint, district officials regularly led students in Christian prayers, students in a Bible club received preferential treatment, officials handed out Bibles in school during class time and at least one teacher told his middle-school students that there is only “one true religion.”
The Dobriches also complained of statements delivered by a local minister to members of daughter Samantha’s graduating class during official activities, which appeared to target the teenager as in special need of “coming to know Jesus Christ.”
Also mentioned in the documents related to the suit were heated scenes from a subsequent Indian River board meeting on Aug. 24, 2004, when a large, overflow crowd gathered to support the school district and its policies regarding religion in schools. As the Dobriches’ son, Alex, then in sixth grade, attempted to speak, someone yelled, “Take off your yarmulke.”
During that same meeting, Harold Johnson, a former board member, told Mona Dobrich that she might “disappear” like Madalyn Murray O’Hair. O’Hair was the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that banned the mandatory practice of reading Bible passages aloud in public schools. She disappeared in 1995, and when her body was later found, authorities concluded she had been murdered.
Under public pressure and reported threats from some in the community, the Dobriches moved out of the area but pursued the lawsuit and a settlement.
Indian River’s board unanimously rejected a settlement offer in February 2006 that would have allowed the board to continue its tradition of opening monthly meetings with a prayer. Board members said that other provisions included in the previous offer were unacceptable, including ones that called for the removal of “Christmas” and “Easter” on school calendars, in favor of more generic holiday designations, and policy changes that could be made without the board’s approval.
Jason Gosselin, the board’s attorney, said that board members are “satisfied” with Tuesday’s settlement.
“We maintain that the district’s conduct was appropriate,” Gosselin said. “But the board wants to do what is constitutionally required. They know they are obligated to follow the law. A settlement that provides clarity on what their obligations are … that’s something that they welcome.”
In a statement, Allingham, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said, “We’re pleased that after years of struggle, the district has finally been persuaded to adopt policies that comply with the basic principles protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution.”
To read more of the background on this case, visit the Coastal Point’s Web site at www.coastalpoint.com and search for “prayer” using our new search feature.