Montgomery County’s Board of Education president said Tuesday that he does not anticipate that the board will reconsider a previous decision banning Montgomery Blair High School from having its 2007 graduation ceremony in a church.
Even though Jericho City of Praise is much better able to fit the school’s increasing student body, holding an official school event there would be a violation of the separation of church and state, Charles Haughey explained.
Fellow Board of Education member and licensed attorney Steve Abrams, however, doesn’t want to let the discussion drop there.
He told The Examiner he disagrees with the notion that having graduationat Jericho would be unconstitutional and wants to look into allegations made by parents that some students are taking school exams in religious establishments.
“My reading of the law is different than my colleague’s,” he said. “Were we to use Jericho, I think it would be acceptable so long as we made every effort to find a reasonable, affordable option.”
Earlier this month, Montgomery County Schools’ Chief Operations Officer Don Kress ruled that Blair would not be allowed to switch the ceremony to a religious site, at which point parents who support using Jericho appealed the decision to the board.
The parents’ rationale is that, with a capacity almost triple that of most other venues being considered, Jericho is the most suitable size-wise. They also contend that the few religious symbols that are visible inside the facility can be covered up.
Not so, though, according to Haughey.
“I’ve presided over a few commencements there, and it was clearly a house of worship,” he said. “And it clearly has religious symbols in the auditorium.”
As to whether schools are using religious-related locales for testing, the board president said district staff members have examined this, and he’s “comfortable” with the belief that it’s not a norm.
“It’s an issue that will continue to be monitored,” Haughey said.
