Can graduation prayer and religious baccalaureate ceremonies be held in public school facilities?
The Secretary’s Statement on Religious Expression specifies that the Supreme Court has ruled in current decisions that school officials may not mandate or organize graduation prayer, nor organize religious baccalaureate ceremonies. It further states that schools are informed, if they generally open their facilities to private groups, they must make these facilities available on the same terms to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate services. Secretary Riley also advises schools that they may not extend preferential treatment to baccalaureate ceremonies and may in some instances be obliged to disclaim official endorsement of such ceremonies. The specifies that the Supreme Court has ruled in current decisions that school officials may not mandate or organize graduation prayer, nor organize religious baccalaureate ceremoniesIt further states that schools are informed, if they generally open their facilities to private groups, they must make these facilities available