Hillsborough is not alone in school calendar conflicts

Across Florida, school districts are hard at work crafting their academic calendars for 2010-11.

And across Florida, nonacademic pressures are again at play.

In Lee County, for instance, the district's calendar committee is sparring over whether to give students a day off for Rosh Hashana, the Fort Myers News-Press reports. A board member has expressed displeasure with closing school on a Thursday, while a community member argues that the district has recognized the holiday for seven years, so why stop now?

Up in Bay County, it's economics causing a rift. Businesses are complaining that they'll lose out if the district begins classes in early August instead of later in the month, the Panama City News Herald reports.

And here we thought that Hillsborough's nearly annual ritual battle over Good Friday was singular.

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Trick or treat! Err, which character are you?

Once upon a time, schools would celebrate Halloween with costume parties, pumpkin carving and candy giveaways, just like kids do at home.

These days, it's not so simple.

Masks are scary. Halloween is paganism. Somehow, it has managed to offend someone.

So just like Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, which have become merged into the generic "winter holidays," Halloween has morphed in the schools. Quite frequently, it has become a celebration of books and reading. Chances are, if you haven't gone to a character parade already, you're going to one today. (At least that way kids still get to dress up.)

Maybe if they're lucky, kids will still get some sweets. And perhaps they'll see pumpkins under the guise of teaching about the harvest.

Some educators and kids tell the Herald-Tribune that in many ways they can't see much of a difference. Costumes are costumes, and pumpkins are pumpkins, after all. But what do you think? Have we sanitized the holidays too much?

(Photo from the Herald-Tribune)

You can't say that at school

Even the strictest of student dress codes can't stop kids from wearing what they want on the first day of school. 

The best that Talbot Elementary in Alachua could do Monday to the kid who wore a T-shirt with the message "Islam is of the devil" was send the child to the office — essentially quarantining the offensive message — until parents arrived with a new shirt.

The parents decided instead to take the child home, the Gainesville Sun reports.

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Florida lawmaker doesn't give up push for school prayer

Panhandle state Rep. Brad Drake, a Republican from Eucheeanna, isn't giving up hope that Florida high school students might someday be allowed to offer prayer or other "inspirational messages" at "noncompulsory events."

Such as graduation. (As if seniors don't feel like they have to be there.)

For the second straight year, Drake has filed legislation that would give a majority of students in a high school the right to request an inspirational message and to select a representative to offer it.

Last year, the proposal died when its Senate sponsor, Ronda Storms, withdrew the controversial bill under a cloud of constitutional questions. The House never moved the idea forward.

And it's not likely to do so next session, either.

"It has the same probability as last year," said Rep. John Legg, chairman of the House Pre-K-12 Education Policy committee. "I'm not in favor of wasting a lot of committee time on issues that will probably not pass the Legislature."

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Santa Rosa schools remain under fire over prayer

A federal judge's order banning prayer in Santa Rosa's public schools hasn't seemed to stick, and the ACLU is peeved.

The Pensacola News-Journal reports that the civil rights group is now seeking to have district officials held in contempt for violating the January order. Its two concerns:

• A principal asked for a blessing over a school-sponsored meal
• A board member asked a non-employee to pray at the non-instructional employee of the year banquet

The ACLU says the district is taking the federal order too lightly. District folks say they're just doing what they normally do before they eat. This is the Bible Belt, after all.

And here we thought the Legislature's refusal to move its inspirational messages bill set the tone. No easy answers in the Panhandle, it seems.

Group seeks your graduation horror stories

High school graduation time is fast upon us, and it should be a time for seniors across Florida to celebrate.

That's all seniors, the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State stresses in its latest missive:

"All students should feel welcome at their graduation. It is a time to celebrate each student's accomplishments, regardless of their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, there are always some school districts that violate church-state separation in their graduation ceremonies."

Know of any "improper" public school graduation ceremonies coming up? AU wants to hear about them. Be sure to send all the details about the school so they can follow up. And enjoy commencement.

A weekend interview with the Rev. Matthew Cotten of OK2Pray

Back in January, a federal judge ordered Santa Rosa schools to stop permitting prayer at school-related activities. The school district accepted the order. But the Rev. Matthew Cotten of Pine Terrace Baptist Church in Milton did not. Instead, he began prayer rallies and started the group and Web site OK2Pray. Cotten spoke with reporter Jeff Solochek about his initiative. (Photo from Pensacola News-Journal profile)

I was interested in you telling me what are your concerns that led to your decision to act?

Well, I'll tell you. I am a lifelong educator. ... And I believe that not only kids need an education, but adults too. The fact of the matter is, I see that lack of freedom is what has caused education to shut down all over the world. And there's a lot of places all over the world where people don't have education because they don't have freedom. They don't have the financial freedom to get the education they need. They don't have the freedom to travel to get the education they need. And they don't have even the resources, they're not allowed to have that education. Well, that's not the case in America. It's not supposed to be. And yet now I see a trend that it just upsetting and unsettling that we're sacrificing freedoms for security.

Now, I'm a Christian minister and I'm from the Bible Belt. ... Because of that we have this reputation that there is going to be a conservative push in our politics, there's going to be a conservative push in our churches, and there is going to be a religiosity here. And that's true. But I am sort of unique and I'm catching flak for it on both sides, both the political side and the religious side. ...  The fact of the matter is, we (Americans) don't understand one another, we don't know what the other side believes. ... So one of the things I promote is an open dialogue. Well, that open dialogue cannot occur. Where's the best place to get that? Well, work is one place. ... The other place is at school. And the workplace and school have case law now, precedent is a better word ... deciding that the workplace and school are not a good place to talk about religion.

Now, when the court said that, the school district seemed to accept that. But you didn't.

Yeah. And that's one of the problems we have here. And one of the reasons they accepted it was because of fear. ... They don't know what the truth is because the truth has been distorted. ... It's been distorted over time and over many different variations of method. I think the church is responsible for some of that distortion. I think that the ACLU is responsible for some of that distortion. I think radical legislative judges are responsible for some of that distortion. And I think individuals not being educated about what their First Amendment rights are, and that includes me. I went for years just getting a paycheck, going home and not paying attention to any of this stuff. ... It's affecting all of us now, and we can't have a dialogue about religion.

Now, the students' rights are fairly intact after this consent decree that the School Board signed. ... That's a great thing and I am excited about that and we are touting that at our rallies. When we have an OK2Pray rally we say it's okay for a student to pray. It's okay for a student to believe whatever it is they  believe and to pray whatever that belief or worship or whatever it is they have to do.

Tell me about the rallies that you're holding. What do you do at them? What is the message that you bring besides that it's okay to pray. Or, is that the whole message?

It's pretty simple. It's okay to pray. Honestly, the people that I have gotten to pray are primarily Christian because they have a mandate to pray. ... When Jesus instructed us to pray he instructed us to pray with 'our father.' ... If he meant for it to be just private, he would have said, 'my father.' ...

School prayer bill looks unlikely to move

Sen. Ronda Storms removed her bill to allow "inspirational messages" at school functions from its first committee hearing this morning. She then told reporters that it looked like there wasn't enough time to move the controversial legislation (which the Anti-Defamation League vehemently opposes) through the process and into law.

The Buzz reports that even Senate staffers warn in an analysis that districts might have to add provisions to any message policy to avoid constitutional challenge over what could be interpreted as state-sponsored religious speech.

The stumbling blocks may be too huge. The House hasn't even heard its version of the bill, has not scheduled it and the Pre-K-12 Policy Committee has no plans to meet again.

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Country song proves too religious for some St. Johns parents

In preparation for their year-end program, students at Webster School in St. Augustine were learning to sing a tune by the popular country group Diamond Rio.

Here's the opening stanza:

"You place your hand on His Bible, when you swear to tell the truth
His name is on our greatest monuments, and all our money too,
And when we pledge allegiance, there's no doubt where we stand,
There is no separation, we're one Nation under Him."

The parents of two third-graders didn't find "In God We Still Trust" appropriate for a public school setting. It's religious indoctrination, they said.

So they're suing the St. Johns school district because their children were forced to learn it, the Florida Times-Union reports.

The school has removed the song from the assembly lineup. But the district is defending the school's right to include a religious piece in assemblies, noting that many choral pieces have their history in religion.

"A public school ... does not endorse religion because its choir sings a Christian song," board attorney David Marsey told the Times-Union.

Let the high schools pray, Sen. Storms says

Never one to shy from controversy, state Sen. Ronda Storms has filed a bill that would let high schools "permit the delivery of an inspirational message, including a prayer or invocation," at optional events and ceremonies.

Like student assemblies, football games and, perhaps, graduations.

The goal, according to the bill language is "to provide for the solemnization and memorialization" of such events. It takes steps to ensure that schools may still discipline students for unprotected, inappropriate and disruptive comments, as well.

But it also flies in the face of a recent federal court ruling in Santa Rosa County. Fought by the ACLU of Florida, the case ended with an order that bars the Santa Rosa district from "planning, organizing, financing, promoting, or otherwise sponsoring" religious activities, including high school baccalaureate.

Already, the Santa Rosa district has changed its ways, as the Pensacola News-Journal reported. Perhaps this bill, also filed by Panhandle Rep. Brad Drake in the House, will let them change things back.

St. Johns schools get prayer protection

Students in St. Johns County, on the outskirts of Jacksonville, posted some of the best FCAT scores in the state last year. And who knows? Maybe they got help from above.

According to an e-mail obtained by the Gradebook, pastors, principals and others gathered at four St. Johns schools on a recent Sunday to walk through them and pray for "God's blessing and providence over each classroom and student."

The prayer groups included Beverly Slough (left), who chairs the St. Johns School Board and is president of the Florida School Boards Association. And the e-mail was sent to a third party by Kim Kendall (right), the St. John's mom-turned-activist who became the most visible critic of the state's new evolution-embracing science standards.

ACLU sues Santa Rosa schools

The ACLU of Florida has filed suit against the Santa Rosa school system in the Panhandle on behalf of two high school students who claim the district has consistently promoted and endorsed religion in the schools.

In a press release, the organization states "graduation ceremonies during the past five years at Central, Jay, Milton, Navarre and Pace High Schools have included prayers by students – often members of groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or the Christian World Order. The graduation ceremonies at Santa Rosa Adult School and Santa Rosa Learning Academy also have included prayers." School officials also injected their own religious beliefs in other activities, too, the group contends.

To see the full complaint, click here.