Two national church-state advocacy groups are warning the Duval County School Board to end its practice of opening board meetings with prayer. The groups received separate citizen complaints, which prompted them to send letters to board members.
Both groups — the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which sent the board its letter on Friday, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sent a similar letter in November — say that to start school-sponsored events like board meetings with prayer is a violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. That’s the doctrine preventing the government from “establishing” a religion and is the basis for separation of church and state.
Since December 2024, when Charlotte Joyce became board chair, the school board has begun most meetings with overtly evangelical Christian prayers. Previous Chair Darryl Willie opened each meeting with a “thought of the day,” usually from a student.
In its letter, the Madison, Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation called the board’s “needless insertion of invocations” a violation of the board’s own policy and said the practice is “intimidating, divisive, and coercive.”
“Out of respect for the First Amendment and the diversity of the Duval County Public Schools community, we urge the Board to cease opening its meetings with invocations,” FFRF staff attorney Samantha Lawrence wrote.
Lawrence tells Jacksonville Today that until the foundation receives a response from Duval Schools, it will be “considering all of our options.”
“The best course of action would be for the Board to focus on doing its job and cease its invocation practice altogether,” Lawrence says.
Duval Schools’ offices are closed for Spring Break. A request for comment sent to William Spillias, the city of Jacksonville general counsel assigned to represent Duval Schools, was not returned before this story’s publication.
The Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent its letter to the board on Nov. 25.
“We have received a complaint that the Duval County School Board routinely opens its meetings with prayer by invited clergy,” that letter read. “The students and employees of the Duval County Public Schools subscribe to a variety of faiths, and the inclusion of prayer at school board meetings disrespects those beliefs.”
Americans United tells Jacksonville Today the district responded and indicated it views itself as a legislative body, and is therefore allowed to host invocations.
Though it disagrees with that assertion, the advocacy group’s lawyers say they’re “monitoring the board’s actions” and are considering next steps with the person who lodged the complaint.
“Incorporating prayers or any other religious content into a public school board meeting is a clear violation of religious freedom,” staff attorney Ian Smith says. “Duval County students, families and staff should not be forced to choose between remaining true to their personal religious beliefs and participating in the decision-making process of their own public schools.”
Invocation invitations
School board meeting minutes show that for the first several months of Joyce’s tenure as chair, students were invited to give the invocations. Beginning in June, clergy from local houses of worship have led the opening prayers instead. All of them have been men, and all have come from Christian churches; no other religious traditions have so far been represented.
Mike Ludwick, who made the complaint to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, tells Jacksonville Today he originally reached out to Joyce with an offer that his church, the Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist church, could lead an invocation. Joyce did not respond.
Joyce also did not respond to Jacksonville Today’s request for comment before this story’s publication.
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This story was originally published by Jacksonville Today and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
