When students in Arlington Heights-based High School District 214 rally around their school flagpoles this fall to pray for their country, about 20 people at each school will be missing: their teachers.
The District 214 administration has reversed its decision on the national “See You at the Pole” prayer sessions and decided that teachers no longer should participate in the before-school activity.
The teachers’ presence might violate a federal law requiring them to remain neutral on religion, school officials said.
Teachers and other District 214 staffers will be notified formally about the policy change in a district newsletter published later this month.
“The purpose of the national program is to bring students, not staff, together before school to pray for their school and country,” said John Hillary, District 214 director of curriculum.
If the teachers stand in a circle around a flagpole, holding hands and praying with students, they might cross the line between respect for religion and endorsement of religion, Hillary said.
The teachers are acting as district representatives whenever they are on school property, even when the bell has not yet rung, he said.
A district debate last fall on the annual prayer session drew the attention of local atheist activist Rob Sherman, who urged the school district to block the teachers from participating.
“If the teachers are on duty, they should not be engaging in religious activities,” Sherman said Monday. “And if they are off duty, they should not be fraternizing with the students.”
Students in four of District 214’s high schools–Buffalo Grove, Hersey in Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling–have held the morning prayer sessions for the past few years.
“I would drive up to the parking lot about 7 a.m., and there would be about 100 individuals–about 80 students and 20 teachers–in a big circle around the flag,” said Donald Kersemeier, principal at Hersey. “They would spend about 20 minutes praying.”
Kersemeier said he would support students of any religion gathering at the school but added he has mixed feelings about teachers participating.
Jeff Huebner, a teacher at Rolling Meadows High and president of the teachers’ District 214 Education Association, said he, too, has problems with the involvement of teachers.
“This is a real tough one for me,” Huebner said. “I’d love to get into a discussion of freedom of speech and freedom of religious beliefs for those who happen to be teachers. But the law eliminates that discussion. The law is pretty crystal clear.”
He added, “I personally don’t understand a law that requires that public school teachers not only remain neutral (about religion) in the classroom, but non-participatory.
“Every day, teachers are expected to take a position in sex education, AIDS awareness, drug abuse and tobacco usage. I can have on my desk any of a hundred controversial books, but I cannot have the Bible.”
Student views also go both ways.
Elizabeth Philip, 16, of Mt. Prospect, a junior at Hersey, said she participated in the prayer session last fall.
“I think teachers have a right to participate, as long as they are not imposing their belief on other people,” Philip said.
But Jenny Waldron, 17, of Mt. Prospect, also a junior at Hersey, said the very presence of teachers sends a message.
“I think the teachers should not be allowed to be out there with the students because it represents the school,” Waldron said. “It sends a message that the school has a specific religion.”
