I'm happy to report a settlement in my family's case against Medina Valley Independent School District (just outside San Antonio, Texas), folks. It took us 3 and 1/2 years, a series of unproductive meetings with the district, and, eventually, a lawsuit brought by Americans United For The Separation Of Church And State, to see any changes made, but we now have an agreement that covers pretty-well all of the issues we asked the school district to address.
For details, follow me over the jump :)
Some of you will have seen news reports on the settlement over the past few days; I have, and I'm sure there will be more over the weekend. I've done my share of complaining about the inaccuracy of the news media through the years, so I shouldn't have been surprised when reports about our case were wrong from beginning to end, but I was a little taken aback by news that seem to come from some other reality altogether.
Americans United For The Separation Of Church And State has a good summary of the case at their website, with a link to a pdf of the settlement terms.
http://au.org/...
I'll try to do a better job outlining the details than the mainstream news has done.
What The Settlement Does:
requires the removal of religious items like crosses and bible verses from Medina Valley classroom walls, hallways, windows, etc.
prevents teachers, coaches, administrators, etc leading or joining the students in prayer in class, at games, practices, graduations etc
requires training on the rights of students for all district staff who interact with students
requires the education of students on their rights and how to report a violation of those rights
prohibits the district from scheduling Invocation or Benediction prayers or selecting students to give prayers at sporting events, graduation ceremonies, and other school activities
changes the way student speakers at public events are chosen, opening the opportunity to more than just one student
requires announced disclaimers by the district at public events where students will speak
bars invited speakers from proselytizing or promoting religion in their remarks
prevents the district from previewing or pre-approving student remarks at graduations, games, etc
prohibits the school from requiring members of the band to stand at attention for anything but the Anthem and their own performances
requires the district to pay $125,000 to Americans United For The Separation Of Church And State in legal fees
prohibits the Defendants from disparaging the Settlement or the Plaintiffs
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What The Settlement Does Not:
restrict teachers' rights' to or from religion
restrict students' rights to or from religion
raise or lower the speed of light
Prior to our agreement, sporting events, graduations, awards ceremonies etc., featured regularly-scheduled prayers delivered by students appointed to the job either by a teacher or as part of a Student Council member's job description. Members of the attending audience at graduation were asked to stand for the National Anthem and then to remain standing for an Invocation (overseen by the district but delivered by a student). After being seated, a different student gave a Welcome message. Ending the graduation ceremony, we heard a Message of Farewell, after which we were asked to stand for a student-delivered Benediction prayer.
Now, under the terms of our agreement, the audience will be asked to take their seats after the anthem. The Invocation and Benediction prayers are removed from the program.
So, what does all of that mean for graduates like my son, and parents like myself? It means we can attend graduation ceremonies without concern about prayers automatically scheduled into the format of the program. It does NOT mean there cannot possibly BE any prayers, because we were extremely careful not to restrict the rights of students (or teachers) in our settlement. If a graduating student speaker (for example, the Valedictorian or Salutatorian) wants to talk about Religion being the backbone of his family and recite the prayer he feels has most helped him make it to graduation day, he is free to do so; if the graduate wants to talk about Reason as the backbone of his family life and offer quotations from the non-believer he mosts respects, he is free to do that, also.
We put a great deal of effort into preserving and balancing the rights of students and teachers while at the same time removing the district's fat thumb from the scale. How do you think we did?
The school district is busy in the media, laughably claiming victory on issues we never discussed, disparaging my family and the settlement less than 12 hours after signing a legal agreement barring them from indulging in such behavior, so I can't say the whole thing is "over" just yet, as we are now in the process of enforcing the terms of settlement, but the end does appear to be in sight. I can't thank the folks at American United For Separation Of Church And State enough for all their work, and I would recommend them to anyone in need of help with a religious-rights issue.
Thanks to all of you as well, as your support during the darkest hours of this process was invaluable. I'm sorry to have maintained silence for so long, but I wasn't allowed to talk about the case. I am allowed to do so now, so if you have questions, I'll be here for a while yet, to sort them out.
:)