The chairman of the West Hartford Board of Education praised the members of his board today for deciding, after lengthy debate at two successive meetings, to ban the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer and Bible reading in the local public schools. In an interview with the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, the board head, Willis G. Parsons, Jr., stated that the action was a “duty” imposed on the Board by last summer’s Supreme Court ruling on these issues.
By a vote of 5-2, the Board adopted the following rule: “Employees of the West Hartford school system shall not conduct or authorize students to conduct prayers or other devotional exercises on school premises during school hours.” Other rules adopted by the Board permit periods of “silent meditation” at the discretion of teachers or principals.
Mr. Parsons pointed out that some practices were not covered by the Board’s resolution. These “peripheral” programs, he said, concern hymn singing, which some persons consider “cultural” rather than devotional, and observance of certain holidays in classrooms.
Mr. Parsons, however, was firm on banning prayers and Bible reading. He said he believed most persons would accept the board’s ruling on these issues because “the feeling is that religious training of children should be left to church, synagogue or home, rather than to the schools.”
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