Tangipahoa Parish in trouble again

It's a lesson that ought to be read about and absorbed by all Washington Parish educators.

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board has been held in civil contempt of court by a federal judge for violating an August 2004 agreement over school prayer.

The order, issued this week by U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan, does not specifically name any school official as being in contempt, but orders the school board to pay attorneys fees to the plaintiffs who filed the motions.

The American Civil Liberties Union is representing a parent and two children who complained about prayers in Tangipahoa Parish public schools. They are unnamed in court documents.

The ACLU and the school board have tangled for three years over the proper role of religiously worded invocations at school events and then overseeing them through the consent order that attempted to settle the question.

Berrigan rejected the idea that student-initiated prayers or prayers said at off-campus events would comply with the prayer agreement. At issue were two school banquets in 2005 in which students offered prayers.

ACLU officials said the decision upheld religious neutrality in the schools. School officials said they disagreed with the ruling,but would abide by the order until they could consult with their attorney. Link

This is dumb, dumb, dumb. Public school personnel continue to defy court orders and the law, and will jeopardize the school district because they cannot shut the f*ck up.

It doesn't sound very Christian to me.

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Graduation? or church service?