Religious Expression in Public Schools  

    Student prayer and religious discussion: The establishment clause of the First  Amendment does not prohibit purely private religious speech by students.  Students therefore have the same right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during the school day as they do to engage in other comparable activities.  For example, students may read their Bibles and other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray before tests to the same extent they may engage in comparable non disruptive activities.  Local school authorities possess substantial discretion to impose rules of order and other pedagogical restrictions on student activities, but they may not structure or administer such rules to discriminate against religious activity or speech.

    Generally, students may pray in a non disruptive manner when not engaged in school  activities or instruction and subject to the rules that normally pertain in the applicable  setting.  Specifically, students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways, may  pray and discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same rules of order  as apply to other student activities and speech.  Students may also speak to and attempt  to persuade their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to political  topics.  School officials, however, should intercede to stop student speech that constitutes  harassment aimed at a student or group of students.  
 
    Students may also participate in before or after school events with religious content,  such as "see you at the flagpole" gatherings, on the same terms as they may participate in  other non curriculum activities on school premises.  School officials may neither discourage  nor encourage participation in such an event.
 
     The right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from
discrimination  does not include the right to have a captive audience listen or to compel other students to  participate.  Teachers and school administrators should ensure that no student is in any  way coerced to participate in religious activity.

     Graduation prayer and baccalaureates: Under current Supreme Court decisions,  school officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation nor organize religious  baccalaureate ceremonies.  If a school generally opened its facilities to private groups, it must make its facilities available on the same terms to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate services.  A school may not extend preferential treatment to baccalaureate ceremonies and may, in some instances, be obliged to disclaim official endorsements of such ceremonies.
 
    Official neutrality regarding religious activity:  Teachers and school administrators  when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state and are prohibited by  establishment clause from soliciting or encouraging religious activity and from  participating in such activity with students.  Teachers and administrators also are  prohibited from discouraging activity because of its religious content and from soliciting  or encouraging anti religious activity.

    Teaching about religion:  Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach about religion, including the Bible or other scripture.  The history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture) as literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries all are permissible public school subjects.  Similarly, it is permissible to consider religious influences on art, music, literature, and social studies.  Although public schools may teach about religious holidays, including their religious aspects, and may celebrate the secular aspects of holidays, schools may not observe holidays as religious events or promote such observance by students.

    Students assignments:  Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions.  Such home and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school.

     Religious literature:  Students have a right to distribute religious literature to their schoolmates on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature that is unrelated to school curriculum or activities.  Schools may impose the same reasonable time, place, and manner or other constitutional restrictions on distribution of religious literature as they do on non school literature generally, but they may not single out religious literature for special
regulations.

    Religious excuses:  Subject to applicable state laws, schools enjoy substantial discretion to excuse individual students from lessons that are objectionable to the student or the students' parents on religious or other conscientious grounds.  School officials may neither encourage nor discourage students from availing themselves of an excusal option.

    Released time:  Subject to applicable state laws, schools have the discretion to dismiss students of off premises religious instruction, provided that schools do not encourage or discourage participation or penalize those who do not attend.  Schools may not allow religious instruction by [anyone] on school premises during the school day.
 
    Teaching values:  Though schools must be neutral with respect to religion, they may play an active role with respect to teaching civic values and virtue and the moral code that holds us together as a community.  The fact that some of these values are held also by religions does not make it unlawful to teach them in school.

    Student garb:  Students may display religious messages on items of clothing to the same extent that they are permitted to display other comparable messages.  Religious messages may not be singled out for suppression but rather are subject to the same rules as generally apply to comparable messages.  When wearing particular attire, such as yarmulkes and head scarves, during the school day is part of students' religious practice, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act schools generally may not prohibit the wearing of such items.