School officials statewide are getting a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee this week to help them interpret laws on religious freedom in schools under the First Amendment.
The letter stresses that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against school-sponsored prayer even if the prayers are voluntary and nonsectarian. On the other hand, students are allowed to pray or organize religious clubs under certain conditions.
The letters aren't sent at the start of every school year but ''we try to do it on a fairly regular basis,'' said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of ACLU of Tennessee. ''This is a good time to share this information with school administrators.''
It's hard to judge if more schools are complying with the law, Weinberg said.
''We continue to hear concerns coming out of the Davidson County school system, actually more concerns probably last year than years before,'' she said, adding that ''the same concerns, the same inquiries, the same complaints come out of rural counties and urban counties.''