The Freedom From Religion Foundation is urging four school districts in the South and the Midwest to stop promoting overtly religious baccalaureate ceremonies.
FFRF has received reports from community members in Tennessee , Texas , Kentucky and Indiana that various school districts publicized baccalaureate services for graduating seniors. These districts include Cocke County School District in Newport, Tenn. , which hosted a baccalaureate service at Northport Baptist Church on Sunday, May 5, hosted by a district elementary teacher after its promotion on the district’s Facebook page. The Community Independent School District in Nevada, Texas , hosted a service on Sunday, May 19, which featured an opening prayer, worship, sermons and a closing prayer delivered by local church clergy. Additionally, the Williamsburg Independent School District in Williamsburg, Ky. , promoted a 2024 baccalaureate service and hosted a general graduation ceremony on May 19 that began with an official prayer – a practice that happened in 2020, 2021 and 2022 graduation ceremonies as well. And in the John Glenn School Corporation in Walkerton, Ind. , two district teachers officially hosted on Sunday, April 21, a “nondenominational service for celebrating the achievements of our graduating seniors,” which included scripture reading.
FFRF is asking all four districts not to promote overtly religious events such as these in the future in order to respect the constitutional principle of state/church separation.
“Public schools may not host – and then promote – religious ceremonies,” FFRF Patrick O’Reiley Legal Fellow Hirsh M. Joshi has written to each of these districts. “That includes baccalaureate services.”
It is well-settled law that public schools may not show favoritism toward nor coerce belief or participation in religion, FFRF emphasizes. Baccalaureate programs are religious services with prayer and worship. Schools may not plan, design or host baccalaureate programs. By hosting and promoting a baccalaureate ceremony, districts are demonstrating clear favoritism towards religion over nonreligion – and Christianity over all other faiths. That favoritism enlarges when district employees organize and host the service, as is the case in the John Glenn School Corporation and the Cocke County School District.
“These schools held religious ceremonies for their students, promoted them, and celebrated their own worship services. That’s unconstitutional,” adds Joshi. “One glance at a calendar, and it’s easy to see that these services were held on Sundays. These were Christian ceremonies. These districts should be more cognizant of that going forward.”
FFRF is urging these four districts to respect their constitutional duty to remain secular and not to promote and host religious baccalaureate ceremonies in the future.
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