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The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland has asked the Prince George's County school board stop its regular board prayer at the start of each board meeting, claiming the practice violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU submitted a letter March 3 to the board, citing several court cases, including a 1999 case, Coles v. Cleveland Board of Education in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which found prayer before school board meetings to be unconstitutional.

"Although we understand that these prayers are generally nondenominational, we nevertheless believe that the recitation of such prayers at a school board meeting violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment," the letter said. "Accordingly, we ask that you take action to amend the current policy and to eliminate the practice of beginning these meetings with a prayer."

The county school board begins its twice-monthly meetings with the prayer: "Oh God we pray to administer that which is just in all educational policies. Being ever mindful of your guidance, stir us to action with love, wisdom and understanding."

The letter is on the school board's agenda for this afternoon's board meeting for a first reading. The board generally accepts items into the record on their first read and discusses them at the next meeting, which is April 23.

Board chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At large) could not be reached for comment by press time.

Board member Rosalind A. Johnson (Dist. 1) said she would prefer not to open board meetings with a prayer, although she is a religious person.

"I just absolutely believe that the practice of one's religion is a personal decision… . I have great respect for all other religions and people who practice them. I do not want to impose my religious persuasion on somebody else," Johnson said.

Yet she also said she is not focusing on the issue because of the many other challenges the school system faces.

"We have too many other things like student dropouts, truancy, the budget that to me, I'm going to spend my energy on that," Johnson said.

Board member Pat J. Fletcher (Dist. 3) said she wants to continue the prayer and said she does not see anything wrong with the current practice.

"I believe that the prayer that we say is appropriate, and I do not see a problem with it. I really don't," Fletcher said. "We need some guidance from a higher being to help us in our work, and I think it's appropriate."

Lowell Owens of Greenbelt, president of the Prince George's County chapter of the ACLU, said the prayer issue was brought to the local chapter's attention by the ACLU of Maryland, and the county chapter signed onto the letter.

"A public body being separated from religion, that's our point," Owens said.

When asked if the ACLU would file suit if the school board refused to stop the practice, Owens referred questions to the ACLU of Maryland, as local chapters do not file lawsuits.

Ajmel Quereshi, an attorney with ACLU of Maryland, said the organization has not decided if it will file a lawsuit against the school system if the board opts to continue the prayers. He said the letter did not threaten a lawsuit, and its goal was to bring the issue to the school board's attention.

"It was not something we were aware of until a concerned individual within the school system contacted us, and he was concerned about its legality and its effect on students who attended school board meetings," Quereshi said, declining to name the concerned person or give any more information about him.

Quereshi said he has not been made aware of school board meeting prayers in any other school system in the state.

Charles C. Haynes, senior scholar at The First Amendment Center, said that although other Circuit Courts have ruled prayer before school board meetings unconstitutional, he is not aware of any such case in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Maryland. Other courts have ruled that legislative bodies may hold pre-meeting prayers, so the legal question is whether a school board is considered part of that exception.

"They may draw a line, and they may say this is not the same as legislative prayer; that it's different, it's more like school prayer," Haynes said. "That's the question, and it's a close case."

Haynes said he advises school boards to hold a moment of silence at the beginning of their meetings, which are considered constitutional if they are neutral in nature.

He also said courts tend to be stricter on the prayer issue when children are involved, and the fact that the board has a student member could sway the courts.

"The more we give prayer over to the state, the less authentic it is, and it's certainly not in the best interest of religious people for prayer to be something coerced or government-sponsored," Haynes said.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.