Florida Parents Demand Action Over ‘Witchy Wednesday’ School Rituals
As much as parents enjoy fall, dealing with the pervasiveness of Halloween can be a challenge as the season approaches. Residents of a Florida school district are fighting back against the inclusion of a series of witchcraft rituals during its midweek morning announcements.
Liberty Counsel sent a letter to Orange County Public Schools on behalf of local community members, requesting opt-outs for the weekly “Witchy Wednesday” video series, which is aired schoolwide at a local high school.
“The series, which is aired during midweek morning announcements, is produced by students providing ‘religious instruction’ on spells, magic, moon worship and other witchcraft rituals,” attorneys said.
According to the letter, the host of the first video greeted students saying, “Good morning, witches” and later gave instructions on how to cast a spell for “Light of Insight.” They also advised students on how to do a ritual “cleanse and recharge yourself.” Liberty Counsel pointed out that students with sincere Christian religious beliefs would not be able to endorse this religious instruction, nor would they be able to sit through it.
“According to recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which ruled parents have the right to opt their children out of instruction that undermines their religious beliefs, schools must provide opt-outs to ‘Witchy Wednesday’ if parents and students wish to abstain,” attorneys said.
The legal group also pointed to Supreme Court precedent in the cases of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and Shurtleff v. City of Boston to note that those same students cannot be denied access to an open forum where their viewpoints can be expressed.
“Since the school has opened a public forum for expression on witchcraft, if Christian students wanted to present the tenets of their faith in the same manner as ‘Witchy Wednesday,’ these precedents simply would not permit OCPS to exclude them from its morning announcements forum,” attorneys said.
Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said Christian parents and students have a right to opt out of Witchy Wednesday. “The First Amendment does not allow government schools to require this instruction, nor can the school deny differing viewpoints after it has opened its morning announcements forum to student expression,” he said.
The school has cancelled the series.
–Dwight Widaman
