If you’re a parent of a child attending a publicly funded school, please let me know their prayer policy. If you’re a parent of a child attending a Duval County Public School, please consider sending an email similar to the one below and let me know if you get a response.
To: “Poole, Ray” PooleJ2@duvalschools.org, “Joyce, Charlotte D.” joycec@duvalschools.org
School Board Chair Charlotte Joyce,
Please let me know the criteria for choosing the student who is invited to give the invocation at the DCPS Board meetings. The Protestant prayers began once you became chair. Previously the invocations were inspirational and felt more inclusive, not targeted to one particular religion.
Excerpts from the FLDOE Model Policy on Religious Expression:
1. Must provide the forum in a manner that does not discriminate against a student’s voluntary expression of a religious viewpoint on an otherwise permissible subject;
2. Must provide a method based on neutral criteria for the selection of student speakers …
3. Must ensure that a student speaker does not engage in obscene, vulgar, offensively lewd, or indecent speech; and
4. Must state … that the student’s speech does not reflect the endorsement, sponsorship, position, or expression of [Insert County] School District. [Insert County] School District must deliver this required disclaimer at all events where a student speaks publicly.
