Flagler Schools students and staff members participate in the Football Sunday event on Aug. 20, 2019. File photo by Paola Rodriguez The school district has said its involvement in the Football Sunday event is legal because participation is voluntary. The nonprofit says voluntary events can still violate the constitution when schools are involved. A nonprofit organization has alleged that Flagler Schools’ participation in the annual Football Sunday event at the United Methodist Church breaches constitutional protections against government establishment of religion, but the school district is refusing to cancel the event, countering that its involvement is legal because participation is voluntary for students and staff. “It is illegal for school administrators and coaches to organize or participate in religious activities with their students, including team visits to a church for a religious sermon." It’s the second time this year that the district has been the subject of public controversy over church-state separation issues: In August, School Board Chairwoman Janet McDonald invited a pastor to offer an invocation at the beginning of a school board meeting, although board meeting hadn’t included invocations in recent memory. She said she was hoping to recognize the good that religious organizations do by supporting […]
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