Lewiston schools have long guaranteed students' right to pray

LEWISTON — Lewiston school officials say there's been no change in school policy regarding students' right to pray, despite an assertion Monday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations that a Lewiston middle-schooler will now "be allowed to exercise her constitutionally-protected right to pray between classes."

CAIR filed a complaint Friday against the Lewiston School Department alleging a middle school student had been denied her right to kneel in prayer at school, and on Monday issued a press release that school officials had since informed the student she could pray on school grounds.

School Superintendent Leon Levesque said Monday that the department has always permitted students to pray in school, and what's being permitted in schools now is no different than what's been permitted in the past. He said what the Muslim advocacy group is demanding be done is already being done in Lewiston, and CAIR's complaint ushered no change in the department.

According to a press release issued by CAIR Monday, seventh-grader Nasra Aden was allegedly told by a teacher last week never to pray on school property, but then today was "informed by school officials that she would be allowed to pray in a private area. In fact, two other Muslim students joined the girl in prayer today at the school."

Levesque said that private area is actually a corner of the cafeteria at Lewiston Middle School, an area where students have regularly prayed in the past because it's in a low-traffic area.

For safety reasons, students are not permitted to kneel in prayer in hallways and corridors, Levesque said, because those areas are used by the school's 700 students to move between classes. At the middle school, there is a small area of the cafeteria that provides some privacy for students but still remains in common view so all students are supervised. At the Lewiston High School, there is a similarly quiet area near the gymnasium where students have used for prayer.

"There is not a special area that is set aside, or anything of that nature," Levesque said. 

"What's happening in the middle school now is no different than what's been happening in the past," Levesque said, despite CAIR's assertions that there has been a change in school policy or practice.

"We haven't changed our practice," Levesque said. "We're sensitive to the various religious beliefs. We don't want to be in the position of supporting one religious belief over another," he said.

School officials have denied that Aden or anyone else has ever been denied the right to pray in school, but that the school did tell Aden's family that it would not be possible to set aside a special prayer room for Muslim students on school grounds.

CAIR's complaint contained four requests: allow Muslims to pray on school property; modify school policy to provide constitutionally-protected religious accommodation; ensure Aden would not face retaliation because of her request; and institute diversity training for school staff. No one from CAIR spoke with Lewiston officials before filing the complaint, and Levesque said no one from the Washington, D.C.,-based organization has ever called him to talk about Lewiston's policies on prayer in school or about the specific allegations in the complaint.

CAIR's National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper confirmed Monday that his organization has been communicating with Aden's family, and not with school officials.

"I think what we had here was a bit of a misunderstanding as to what the nature of prayer is," Hooper said.

"The nature of Muslim prayer is that you have to go through bodily motions, a prayer ritual. The space has to be clean. It can be any space, but it has to be quiet and clean," Hooper said. He acknowledged that a school hallway is not an appropriate place for prayer, and that the school cannot designate a specific room because "that would be like school promotion of religion of any kind."

The lesson here, Hooper said, "is to have better lines of communication all around. It may be a good idea to have training sessions for school staff and for students. Here's what's allowed and here's what's not allowed and here's what we're doing to make sure your rights are protected."

Levesque said Lewiston schools follow the No Child Left Behind guidelines issued in 2003 by then-U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige in guaranteeing students' constitutional right to pray in school.

jmeyer@sunjournal.com