Local schools adapt to moment of silence law

By Shannon Tebben-Sandoval
Published: Monday, December 3, 2007 12:12 PM CST
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Times correspondent

PEKIN - Area school administrators say the recent enactment of the revised Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act has gone virtually unnoticed in the midst of their busy school days.

The October bill - passed after legislators voted to override a veto by Gov. Rod Blagojevich - changed state legislation that already allowed for a moment of silence in schools if teachers and students wanted to participate, and instead mandated the quiet time.

There are no sanctions written in the law for districts that don’t comply.  

But both Pekin superintendents say the revision hasn’t changed much.      ”We tried to keep it low-key,” Pekin Grade School District 108 Superintendent Bill Link said. “We weren’t trying to create an image that we were encouraging prayer or trying to impose our belief systems on anybody, it was just the fact that this is something we’re mandated to do now and we’re going to be doing it. We leave it up to the discretion of the kids, and that’s why we encourage the parents to talk to their kids about it too.”            

“We didn’t give any directions,” said Pekin Community High School Superintendent Paula Davis. “We just want to give the kids the opportunity to take a moment and use it as they see fit, whether they’re doing silent prayer, whether they’re trying to organize their thoughts for the day, we’re just taking a moment in the day to give students an opportunity to collect their thoughts.”

PCHS conducts its moment of silence after announcements that are read at the beginning of second hour.            

Pekin grade schools have a moment of silence - typically about 10 to 20 seconds long - at the end of their morning ceremonies or announcements.            

Previously, District 108 teachers and staff regularly asked for a moment of silence on certain notable anniversaries, such as Sept. 11, or for more school-specific occasions.

Both districts worked to educate students on the ways they can utilize their quiet moment and District 108 sent notes home to parents as well.            

“It really hasn’t had a major impact on what we do or caused us to do something different, it just really became a part of what was already there,” Link said. “I think at each level the teachers have done a really good job of helping the kids understand what it is and really working with them in that respect.”

Critics charge the change is a thinly veiled attempt at introducing mandated school prayer.  

Chicago-area talk show host and atheist activist Rob Sherman filed a lawsuit against Township High School District 214 in suburban Chicago, where his daughter attends school, claiming the law violates the U.S. Constitution.            

A federal judge in Chicago issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the state superintendent from enforcing the amended law, and set a hearing in the case for Dec. 14.            

Link said several challenges to a similar Virginia law have been upheld in the courts there, and he believes the criticisms revolve around the wording of the law, which specifically uses the word “prayer” in both the title and wording of the statute.            

He said he’s read about a possible movement to remove that wording in the hopes of resolving the controversy.                       

Meanwhile, Pekin students continue to observe the moment of silence, and Link points out the law is still the law while the case is under review. 

And superintendents of both districts say they have not received any feedback from parents, students, or teachers - either positive or negative - about the change.            

“I don’t think we’ve made an overly big deal about it,” Davis said. “The law was put in place, we complied with the law as written.”