Policy 605 - Teaching about Religion and Religious Beliefs Non-Beliefs

The purpose of this policy is to identify the status of religion as it pertains to the programs of the school district.

A. The School Board acknowledges the importance of religious views and religious freedom in our society. However, it is not the mission of Wayzata Public Schools to promote particular related views or doctrines. This stance does not preclude the objective study or recognition of such faiths or positions as significant keys to historical or cultural understanding.

B. The school district shall neither promote nor disparage any religious belief or nonbelief. Instead, the school district encourages all students and employees to be true to their own convictions while nurturing appreciation for and tolerance of each other’s views.

C. The school district recognizes that religion has had and continues to have a significant role in the social, cultural, political, and historical development of civilization.

D. The school district recognizes that one of its educational objectives is to increase its students’ knowledge and appreciation of music, art, drama, and literature which may have had a religious basis or origin as well as a secular importance.

E. The school district supports the inclusion of religious music, art, drama, and literature in the curriculum and in school activities, provided it is intrinsic to the learning experience and is presented in an objective manner without sectarian indoctrination.

F. The historical and contemporary values and the origin of various religions, holidays, customs, and beliefs may be explained in an unbiased and nonsectarian manner.

• U. S. Const., amend. I
• Minn. Stat. § 120A.22, Subd. 12(3) (Compulsory Instruction)
• Minn. Stat. § 120A.35 (Absence From School for Religious Observance)
• Minn. Stat. § 121A.10 (Moment of Silence)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School, 533 U.S. 98, 121 S.Ct. 2093, 150 L.Ed.2d 151 (2001)
• Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290, 120 S.Ct. 2266 (2000)
• Tangipahoa Parish Bd. of Educ. v. Freiler, 530 U.S. 1251, 120 S.Ct. 2706 (2000)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S.602, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971)
• Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Minneapolis Special Sch. Dist. No. 1, 690 F.3d 996 (8th Cir. 2012)
• Wigg v. Sioux Falls Sch. Dist., 382 F.3d 807 (8th Cir. 2004)
• Doe v. School Dist. of City of Norfolk, 340 F.3d 605 (8th Cir. 2003)
• Stark v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 640, 123 F.3d 1068 (8th Cir. 1997)
• Florey v. Sioux Falls Sch. Dist. 49-5, 619 F.2d 1311 (8th Cir. 1980)
• Roark v. South Iron R-1 Sch. Dist., 573 F.3d 556 (8th Cir. 2009)
• Child Evangelism Fellowship v. Elk River Area Sch. Dist. No. 728, 599 F.Supp.2d 1136
• (D. Minn. 2009)
• LeVake v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 656, 625 N.W.2d 502 (Minn. App. 2001)
• Minn. Op. Atty. Gen. 169-J (Feb. 14, 1968)
• Minn. Op. Atty. Gen. 169-K (Oct. 21, 1949)
• Minn. Op. Atty. Gen. 63 (1940)
• Minn. Op. Atty. Gen. 120 (1924)
• Minn. Op. Atty. Gen. 121 (1924)

• Adopted: August 9, 1977
• Amended: July 14, 1986
• Amended: August 16, 2004
• Amended: April 9, 2007
• Amended: January 12, 2015
• Last Reviewed: March 12, 2018

• Policy 605-R Teaching about Religion and Religious Beliefs, Non-Beliefs Regulations