c. 1998 Religion News Service

RAINSVILLE, Ala. _ DeKalb County, Ala., teacher Brenda Douglas stood before a crowd of several hundred people Thursday (April 23) and recalled having to tell grieving students they could not pray at school for a dead classmate. “I don’t know if I did right or not, but my heart broke,”she said.

Douglas, two other teachers and a principal spoke during a rally protesting court-ordered training of DeKalb school personnel on the do’s and don’ts of religion in the classroom and school-sponsored events.

Then the four filed off a platform on the lawn of Northeast Alabama Community College and, followed by dozens of school workers who were among the sign-waving and hymn-singing crowd, went inside for the training. “This in-service (training) is a mockery of what we call freedom,”Douglas said.”I do not have the freedom not to be here without repercussions. It’s ironic that we’re ordered from the classroom in order to learn to be sensitive by someone who has shown no sensitivity to us.” Thursday’s two-hour training session, led by representatives of Vanderbilt University’s First Amendment Center, was the first since U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent ordered such instruction of teachers and other school personnel.

His order, issued in October, set guidelines restricting school-sanctioned prayer, distribution of Gideon Bibles and other religious activities, and has helped make the state ground zero in the nation’s culture wars and the debate over church and state.

The training came just days after another Alabama school board voted to settle a lawsuit filed by a Jewish family charging their children were teased, mocked and forced to pray by Christian students and teachers.

DeMent’s order involving DeKalb County was a result of a lawsuit brought by Michael Chandler, an assistant principal who charged the schools were imposing religion on students.

Charles Haynes, senior scholar at the First Amendment Center, and Oliver”Buzz”Thomas, a Knoxville attorney and Baptist minister, gave the teachers practical advice and examples on how to handle situations when religion creeps into the classroom.”Don’t ignore it and don’t censor it,”both said.

But when teachers asked about specific issues they have wrestled with, many of the answers were unclear.

Douglas, for example, brought up the dilemma of the students gathering for prayer after a classmate had died. “During times of tragedy, what do we do?”she asked.”That’s a hard call,”Thomas said, warning faculty members that many gray areas have not been cleared by court rulings and their own judgment often must rule.

Questions also came up about baccalaureate services and whether teachers may take part in them. Haynes said the only restriction is that the religious service may not be sponsored by a school, but it may be announced as a community event and everyone may participate as a community.”It can be whatever the community wants it to be,”he said.

When a man asked about kneeling for prayer during athletic events, Thomas said students are free to do so, but coaches should not join them.

A first-grade teacher asked what to do when children bring Christian-themed books and videos to share with the class. Thomas said to let them do it because it would be unfair to allow everything except Bible stories.

Thomas told educators they already are practicing a large part of what is in the system’s guidelines, which is based on being respectful and tolerant.

The government is prohibited from establishing a religion under the First Amendment to the Constitution, and that prevents schools from sponsoring religious activities, he said.

But that doesn’t stop students from expressing their religious beliefs, he added.”Students can as long as they don’t harass, coerce or disrupt the class,”Thomas said.”Short of that, they can be as religious as they want to be. Just be tolerant of the other person’s right to say no.” High School teacher Scott McFall, who spoke during the protest, said he was disappointed the group didn’t get more solutions.”I think what we’re looking for is yes-or-no answers, and we didn’t get many,”he said.”We kind of know everything they told us. More specifics is what we are looking for.”

DEA END RNS