HUNTINGTON – Four families have settled a lawsuit against the Cabell County Board of Education after it agreed to change a policy to ensure religious freedom of students.
The four families filed a federal lawsuit in February 2022 after an evangelical preacher conducted a revival assembly during the school day at Huntington High School that some students were required to attend.
As part of the settlement announced last week, the board has passed a policy mandating annual religious freedom training. The policy ensures it is “not the province of a public school to either inhibit or advance religious beliefs or practices,” Cabell BOE attorney Brian D. Morrison said in a statement.
“Students must remain free to voluntarily express their individual religious beliefs, or lack thereof, as each student sees fit," Morrison said.
The parties agreed to jointly dismiss the lawsuit. The board also is providing $1 in nominal damages to each plaintiff and nearly $175,000 in attorney fees, which were paid by the board’s insurer.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation represented the families.
“We are pleased with the result of the lawsuit and are confident that other students will not have to endure similar problems in the future,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said of the settlement.
The revival was led by Nik Walker, who runs Nik Walker Ministries. Although the event was billed as voluntary, two teachers escorted their classes to the revival, where students were instructed to bow their heads in prayer, raise up their hands and were warned to follow Jesus or face eternal torment.
In response to the revival, more than 100 students participated in a walkout in protest one week later. The protest was led by a former student Max Nibert, who was the lead plaintiff in the case. Nibert is agnostic.
The lawsuit also claimed the Cabell BOE had a history of disregarding the religious freedom of its students and promotion of Christian religious practices. The amended complaint said the plaintiffs “seek significant policy changes, training of employees, and supervision of employees in order to protect the constitutional rights of Cabell County Schools’ students.”
On Oct. 17, the board voted to adopt the policy revisions that require annual training of teachers about religion in school. School administrators also are tasked with greater monitoring of school events. Finally, the policy provides greater detail to ensure that employees do not initiate or lead students in religious activities.
“This settlement with the Cabell County Board of Education enacts meaningful policy changes and enforcement and training for staff and teachers on their constitutional responsibilities to ensure that what happened in Cabell public schools in February 2022 will not occur again,” said Herman Mays, the father of the one of the students forced to attend the revival.
FFRF said it is awarding $2,000 scholarships to six of the student participants in the case. Nibert received an award from the group last year. FFRF is a national nonprofit with more than 40,000 members that protects the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.
The plaintiffs were represented by Marcus Schneider, FFRF Senior Counsel Patrick Elliott and local counsel Kristina Thomas Whiteaker.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number 3:22-cv-00085