The Duval County School Board in Florida faces pressure from two national church-state advocacy organizations that are asking it to end a practice of opening board meetings with prayer, arguing it crosses constitutional lines for public bodies. The Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State said they acted after complaints from citizens and sent letters to board members.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which said it sent its letter to the board after receiving a complaint, told board members that opening public board meetings with invocations amounts to an Establishment Clause violation. The group also argued that the practice runs against the board’s own policy and that it can discourage participation by making religious exercise feel expected in a setting meant for public decision-making, not worship.
In a written statement, Freedom From Religion Foundation staff attorney Samantha Lawrence urged the board to cease opening its meetings with invocations. “Out of respect for the First Amendment and the diversity of the Duval County Public Schools community, we urge the Board to cease opening its meetings with invocations,” Lawrence wrote, according to the report. The report said Lawrence told Jacksonville Today that the foundation would be “considering all of our options” until it receives a response from Duval Schools.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a similar letter to the board on Nov. 25, after what the group described as a complaint that the school board “routinely opens its meetings with prayer by invited clergy.” The organization said students and employees in Duval County Public Schools follow a range of faiths, and it argued that including prayer at the meetings disrespects those beliefs.
The report said the advocacy groups’ concerns follow a shift in how prayers are introduced since Charlotte Joyce became board chair. According to the report, since December 2024 the school board began most meetings with overtly evangelical Christian prayers, and previous chair Darryl Willie opened each meeting with a “thought of the day,” usually drawn from a student. The report said Joyce did not respond to requests for comment before publication, including a request sent to Jacksonville Today.
In addition to board-level changes after Joyce’s start, the report described how the format of the invocations has evolved. It said school board meeting minutes show that for the first several months of Joyce’s tenure, students were invited to give invocations. Beginning in June, the report said clergy from local houses of worship led the opening prayers, and it said all of them have been men and have come from Christian churches, with no other religious traditions represented so far.
The report also described a citizen complaint connected to Freedom From Religion Foundation’s letter. It said Mike Ludwick told Jacksonville Today that he first reached out to Joyce with an offer that his church, the Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist church, could lead an invocation, but that Joyce did not respond. The report said Ludwick later made the complaint that prompted the foundation’s action.
Americans United said the district responded to its letter and indicated it views itself as a legislative body, which it said allows it to host invocations. Even with that response, the advocacy group said it was “monitoring the board’s actions” and was considering next steps with the person who lodged the complaint, according to the report.
“Incorporating prayers or any other religious content into a public school board meeting is a clear violation of religious freedom,” Americans United staff attorney Ian Smith said, according to the report. Smith added that Duval County students, families and staff “should not be forced to choose between remaining true to their personal religious beliefs and participating in the decision-making process of their own public schools,” the report said.