Georgetown High students told they can't pray before school

GEORGETOWN -- A group of Georgetown High School students who pray together every morning before school can no longer do that.

The school district told the students they can’t hold their daily prayer meetings since it is not an official club at the school.

District leaders say the students met in the auditorium before the first bell rang to pray for years, but they didn’t know about the meeting until last week.

Leaders say an anonymous call from someone concerned about the prayer group caused the district to get involved and stop the morning activity.

The Georgetown Times reports a lady, by the name of Violet Infinger, hands out Bible scriptures to students as they arrive at Georgetown High School.

It says she has done this since 1999; and although Infinger claims she received permission from former superintendent Charles Gadsden, the district says she does not have permission in writing.

There’s no word on if the prayer group and Infinger are related.

An attorney for the school district must approve the group’s meeting before it can start its prayer time again before school.

In order for the group to reconvene, one of the students has to submit a formal letter to the school’s principal requesting to use the auditorium. An official at the school district has to review the letter to see if the meeting follows the district’s policy.

In response to the recent developments concerning the school’s prayer group, the Georgetown County School District Superintendent, Dr. Randy Dozier released the following statement:

“After receiving an official complaint from the national organization located in Washington, DC, “Americans United for the Separation of Church and State” indicating that a community member was handing out religious literature to students on the campus of Georgetown High School, the District has taken this opportunity to look into the complaint and to correct any violation of constitutional law.

“I think it is unfortunate that this situation occurred and believe it is important that the District respect the rights and the religious beliefs of all individuals. The District and Georgetown High School have clearly established procedures for community members to come onto school campuses. The District does not permit any person to be on a school campus who has not been properly screened or who does not have prior written consent to come onto campus for a specified purpose. The District does not allow community members to come onto campus to distribute literature of any kind to students without prior written consent.

“The District does have a policy—JBF—Release Time for Religious Instruction, which allows students, with parental permission, an opportunity to participate in religious instruction offered by recognized religious groups off school grounds. In addition, any student who wishes to form a club with a religious basis or emphasis, for example, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, may access the District’s procedures to form such a club. In such cases, the club would locate a District employee to serve as a club sponsor, and the club would be permitted to meet on school grounds like other clubs.”

If the school district approves the request, the students could go back to having their daily prayer meetings.

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