(202) 466-3234 (202) 898-0955 (fax) www.au.org 1301 K Street, NW Suite 850, East Tower Washington, DC 20005 October 17, 2012 By Email Loudon County School District Board of Education Scott Newman, Chairman (slenewman@charter.net) William Jenkins, Vice Chairman (jenkinsw@loudoncounty.org) Jason Vance, Director (vancej@loudoncounty.org) Craig Simon (simonc@loudoncounty.org) Gary Ubben (ubbeng@loudoncounty.org) Bobby Johnson, Jr. (johnsonb@loudoncounty.org) Jeremy Buckles (Jlbuckles@gmail.com) Kenny Ridings (ridingsk@loudoncounty.org) Leroy Tate (leroy.tate@tateandlyle.com) Phil Moffett (prmoffett@earthlink.net) Ric Best (bestr@loudoncounty.org) Loudon County School District 100 River Road Loudon, TN 37774 Re: Prayer at School-Board Meetings Dear Chairman Newman, Vice Chairman Jenkins & members of the Board: On May 7, 2012, we sent you the enclosed letter regarding the delivery of prayers at meetings of the Loudon County School District Board of Education. Over five months later, we have yet to receive a response. The School Board continues to present prayers before its meetings. And we understand that student representatives of Loudon County high schools often attend these board meetings and are present for the prayer. For instance, at an August 2012 meeting of the Board, a Board member delivered a prayer asking "Dear kind and gracious Heavenly Father ... we ask that you help us make decisions, that we glorify in [sic] your name, in the best interests of our kids here in Loudon County Schools" and concluded "in your precious name we pray." Similarly, as reflected in the video below, at the September 13, 2012 Board meeting, Director Jason Vance delivered a prayer and concluded "Dear kind and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day Lord" and concluded "it's in your precious sweet name we pray": As our May 7 letter explained, these practices violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit--which has jurisdiction over federal cases in Tennessee--has ruled that a public school board may not present prayers at its meetings. See Coles ex rel. Coles v. Cleveland Bd. of Educ., 171 F.3d 369, 386 (6th Cir. 1999). Unlike other legislative bodies, school boards may not open their meetings with even nondenominational prayers because "the school board, unlike other public bodies, is an integral part of the public school system." Id. at 381; see also Doe v. Indian River Sch. Dist., 653 F.3d 256, 278 (3d Cir. 2011) (same), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 1097 (2012). The presence of students at school-board meetings only reinforces this concern. The ongoing delivery of prayers at school-board meetings not only violates the Constitution and serves to exclude those who do not share the majority's religious beliefs, but also jeopardizes taxpayer dollars. Any litigation over the School District's unlawful practices would likely be expensive; even if the School District were able to obtain free legal representation, an adverse result would require the School District to pay the plaintiff's costs and attorneys' fees. See 42 U.S.C. ? 1988(b). These fees can be quite significant; for instance, after a Pennsylvania school district lost a case that challenged its teaching of "intelligent design," the school was required to pay $1 million in plaintiffs' costs and fees. See Christina Kauffman, Dover Gets a Million-Dollar Bill, The York Dispatch, Feb 22, 2006, http://www.yorkdispatch.com/local/ci_3535139. The law governing Tennessee school boards is clear: board meetings may not include prayers of any kind. We again ask that you ensure that future Board meetings are free of prayer or other religious content. If we do not receive a response to this letter within the next twenty-one days, we will be forced to consider further action. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this issue further, please contact Benjamin Hazelwood at (202) 466-3234 or hazelwood@au.org. 2 Sincerely, Ayesha N. Khan, Legal Director Gregory M. Lipper, Senior Litigation Counsel Benjamin N. Hazelwood, Madison Fellow Enclosure (May 7, 2012 letter) 3