By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Prayer during classroom time, as well as organized prayer groups, will be allowed in the Montgomery Township Public School District, under proposed revisions to the school district policy that addresses religion in public schools.
The Montgomery Township Board of Education introduced the revised policy, which is a state-mandated policy, at its meeting Tuesday night. A public hearing and final action on the policy are set for the school board’s Oct. 18 meeting.
Prayer in the classroom and organized prayer groups are among the activities that will be permitted in the school district “provided the activity is consistent with current United States Supreme Court decisions regarding the relationship between government and religion,” the revised policy states.
The school district already has a policy in place that addresses religion in school. That policy, which was adopted in 1999 and revised in 2005, states that the school board “recognizes that religious belief and disbelief are matters of personal conviction rather than governmental authority.”
The current policy also recognizes that students are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and by the New Jersey State Constitution, both of which ban the establishment of religion in the schools.
The current policy states that “no devotional exercises or displays of a religious character will be permitted in this district, nor shall instructional activities be permitted to advance or inhibit any particular religious sect or religion generally.” That sentence will be removed in the revised policy.
The revised policy that was introduced this week continues to acknowledge that religion is a personal matter that is protected under the federal and state constitutions. It stipulates that school officials “will be neutral in their treatment of religion in the school district” and that they will not show favoritism or hostility regarding religious expression.
“Accordingly, devotional exercises will be permitted in this district,” the revised policy says.
Those “devotional exercises” include prayer during classroom time; organized prayer groups and activities; religious expression and prayer in classroom assignments; student assemblies and extra-curricular events; prayer at graduation and baccalaureate ceremonies; devotional exercises and other prayer and/or religion-related activities.
“(But) the school district will not permit an activity if the activity advances or inhibits any particular religious expression that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” according to the revised policy introduced by the school board.
