On September 23, 2013, the School Board of the Liberal, Kansas, School District, USD No. 480 adopted a policy that allowed student-led prayer at football games and other school events. About ten days later, during a special meeting held on October 2, 2013, the Board rescinded its hastily drafted student-led prayer policy and replaced it with a “limited public forum” policy which allows randomly selected volunteer “[s]tudents . . . to deliver a pre-game message.”
Because school policies that officially sanction student-led prayer violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (2000), the ACLU Foundation of Kansas has opened an investigation regarding the School Board’s recent actions. On October 11, 2013, as the opening salvo in our investigation, ACLU Legal Director Doug Bonney sent a letter to Superintendent Paul Larking requesting documents relating to the consideration and implementation of the School Board’s new policies.