While there is no requirement to ask the administration or school board's permission to meet, it is wise and courteous to inform the administration about See You at the Pole™.
According to Supreme Court precedent and their constitutional rights, students already have permission. SYATP is student-led, it is before school hours, and it is outside of any school building. It does not cost the district anything financially for students to meet to pray, so they aren’t “establishing religion” with tax money. Read the United States Department of Education's statement on Religious Expression in Public Schools.
What about adults?
Legal counsel for SYATP has indicated that it is legal for adults (whether school employees or others) to participate in this before-school event. For more details, call the National Netowrk of Youth Ministries at 858.451.1111.
"Parents and other adults should be allowed to participate in See You at the Pole™ events to the same extent that adults may attend on-campus events held by other student groups. Since school have broad discretion to develop olocies regarding on campus visitors, parents and other adutls should be sure to comply with such policies. Thus, due to the early hour of See You at the Pole™, parents may need to notify school officials of their planned participation ahead of time."
—excerpted from a legal opinion by the American
Center for Law and Justice
(Read
the entire opinion)
If opposed by administration, students
should:
1. Know their rights. Students who take leadership should
be willing to back up their beliefs, if necessary, by
studying the materials available. Read this legal
memo
from the Alliance Defense Fund regarding students’
legal rights.
2. Plan their response. If ordered by a school official
to disperse during SYATP, students should respectfully
leave the school grounds and pray off campus. The goal of
SYATP is to pray to God, not fight with man. They can
make an appointment with the official later to discuss
the situation.
3. Utilize their resources. Expert legal counsel is
available from several groups offering free assistance to
individuals in religious-liberty cases. Timely
intervention has resolved almost every situation with a
minimum of difficulty!
4. Remember they are representing Christ.
For
more legal help contact:
Advocates for Faith and
Freedom—888.588.6888
Alliance Defense
Fund—800.835.5233
The American Center for Law and
Justice—757.226.2489
Christian Legal
Society—703.642.1070
The National Legal
Foundation—757.463.6133
The Rutherford
Institute—804.978.3888
Pacific Justice
Institute—916.857.6900
United States Justice
Foundation—760.741.8086