Ohio school board deliberates removing the Lord's Prayer in commencement exercises

The board members of an Ohio high school found themselves in a tough discussion on whether or not to remove the Lord's Prayer in the commencement exercises following a complaint they received last year.

With commencement exercises nearing, some board members of East Liverpool High School recommended the prayer's removal to avoid a legal battle, while others urged that it be retained even if it leads to a lawsuit.

In the meantime, the school's choir director has been instructed not to continue with the students' singing of the Lord's Prayer during the program.

The issue began when a parent contacted Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based professing atheist organization, and filed a complaint against the school for including the Lord's Prayer during her child's graduation ceremony last year.

The organization wrote a letter in July 2015 asking the school to "keep its musical program secular."

"A graduation should be a celebration for all students, not an exercise in excluding non-religious students with a worship song," the letter said. The organization asked the school to make sure religious songs are removed in future graduation ceremonies, saying "public schools may not advance or promote religion."

The FFRF sent a follow-up letter to district Superintendent Melinda Watson in November regarding the issue.

In an exchange of emails with the board, Watson said she would move for the removal of the prayer if no one would object, as keeping it "would likely result in a lawsuit."

"Believe me, I don't enjoy seeing and hearing this stuff," Watson stated. "I am a Christian and it hurts me that there is even a question about it, but as superintendent, I have to put that aside. As you said, we can't make it legal."

Board member Patricia Persohn said that even though she is for replacing the Lord's Prayer with another song, she could not ignore the reaction from the school community.

"I am hearing parents threatening to withdraw their students," Persohn said.

The Lord's Prayer has been a part of the school's commencement exercises for 10 years.

Meanwhile, choir director Lisa Ensinger addressed the board in a meeting on Monday, May 9, saying removing the Lord's Prayer could lead to the removal of other songs that express faith but have educational value.

"Mozart ... his Requiem Mass, would no longer be allowed. Handel's Messiah would no longer be allowed. All of the music of the Medieval period would never be allowed," Ensinger said.

The school board has yet to make a final decision.