FL Commissioner of Education issues updated guidance on religious expression in public schools

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas sent a letter to Florida parents, sharing updated federal guidance regarding prayer and religious expression in public schools.

The letter is based on updated guidance from the United States Department of Education that replaces prior guidance from the Biden administration. According to the letter, this guidance affirms that students, teachers, and other school employees retain constitutional rights to religious expression, including individual prayer.

The updated guidance states that while official forms of school prayer are prohibited, “the Court has upheld the right, not only of students to pray, but also of public school teachers and officials to engage in individual acts of prayer — and to pray with students — during the conduct of their work.”

Public schools have the authority to regulate student speech that disrupts the classroom, such as a student praying out loud during classroom instruction, and “a school would likewise be not only entitled but required to protect Jewish students, for example, from a hostile environment if another group of students harassed them, even if the harassers claimed a religious basis for their speech or conduct.”

The updated guidance also states that public school employees cannot demonstrate hostility toward religious beliefs, and public schools cannot subject religious speech, including prayer, to more onerous restrictions than similar secular speech. Students, teachers, and other school employees may dress in accordance with their religious faith, including wearing a cross necklace, a yarmulke, or a headscarf.

Kamoutsas wrote that, for example, an essay with religious content should be graded with the same grading standards as a secular essay, and religious student organizations should be treated the same as secular student organizations.

The Florida Department of Education has launched a dedicated process for individuals to submit complaints if this updated guidance is not properly followed; the process includes a dedicated email address, FLFaith@fldoe.org. Parents can also report violations through the Parental Rights page.