D. Scott Hickam, attorney for the Lake Hamilton School District, has determined that an advocacy group’s constitutional objections to including a prayer at the district’s monthly school board meetings are "substantially correct." The district recently removed prayer as an item on its standard agenda after a parent contacted the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which then contacted the district through Hickam. The foundation argued in a letter to Hickam that praying at school board meetings violates the constitutional requirement of religious neutrality in public schools. During the last two meetings, the board has continued to say a prayer at the start of the meeting, though it is not on the standard agenda. "All attorneys would prefer to tell their client what they would like to hear," Hickam said in a statement emailed to the newspaper. "Undoubtedly, the members of Lake Hamilton School Board strongly wish to begin its agenda with a prayer. However, my job is not to tell my clients what they want to hear, but is to offer advice on sometimes complex legal issues and assist them in conducting school matters in a manner compliant with law," he said. Hickam said he is "not inclined to ‘knuckle under’ […]
