First-grade teacher Taryn Israelson’s sign inviting coworkers to pray for each other last fall sparked a brief legal controversy after the principal asked her to take the flyer down.
Israelson contacted First Liberty Institute, a Texas-based nonprofit focused on defending religious freedom, and attorneys with the organization sent a demand letter to the Wasatch County School District April 28.
The lawyers set a deadline of May 14 for the district to “rescind” the principal’s request or face a lawsuit.
They argued Israelson’s flyer is constitutionally protected speech, since other forms of private expression are allowed in the teacher’s lounge.
Now, the district is acceding to the attorneys’ demands. In an email to KPCW, district spokesperson Kirsta Albert said the sides had “agreed on a resolution that supports respectful expression.”
All employees can post announcements and personal notices in staff areas, she added, noting that anything shared would reflect individual views, not an official position of the district.
In a press release Monday, May 5, First Liberty announced Israelson can put her sign back up. Attorney Keisha Russell said in the statement, “This is the right decision by the school officials in light of Supreme Court decisions that have repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion.”
