JOPLIN, Mo. – The American Humanist Association asked a public middle school in a large southwestern Missouri town to stop a Bible study that the organization claims is unconstitutional.  

Last year, the same organization sued the Joplin School District over a field trip to a religiously affiliated sports complex and community center.

In a letter Tuesday to interim Superintendent Norm Ridder and North Middle School Principal Matt Harding, the American Humanist Association takes issue with a Bible study program that it says involves both teachers and outside clergy members leading students in prayer and scripture readings before school.

The letter claims that the program takes place in the school auditorium during breakfast, from about 8 to 8:20 a.m., on Thursdays; its leaders invite students into the auditorium to participate. Classes begin at the middle school level at 8:30 a.m.

“It is unconstitutional for public school teachers to pressure students into participating in prayer or other religious activities,” said David Niose, the association’s legal director, in a statement. “Bringing clergy onto the campus during regular school hours further blurs what should be a clear line separating church and state and violates students’ rights to a secular education.”

North Middle School is one of three public middle schools in Joplin and there are four private schools that serve grades 6 to 8, three of which are of Christian affiliation.

The association also alleges that the teacher who leads the Bible study offers free doughnuts to students who participate, and that the donuts are handed out after the program is over.

“Enticing students to Bible studies with doughnuts is deceitful and inappropriate during school hours,” said Roy Speckhardt, the association’s executive director. “Teachers should treat all of their students equally rather than giving out special treats to students who participate in Christian activities.”

The association said it was notified of the program by a parent who has both a son and daughter at North. The parent, who is not named in the complaint, is a member of the association and “strongly objects to the promotion of Christianity, or any other religion, by her children’s public school,” according to the letter.

A call seeking comment from the school district’s spokesperson was not immediately returned Tuesday, the same day on which classes let out for Christmas break.

The association in 2015 filed suit against the district for sending students to Victory Ministry and Sports Complex, a nonprofit “Christ-centered” community center, for a field trip. That case remains pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The American Humanist Association, founded in 1941, is a national organization that works on behalf of humanists, atheists and other non-theistic Americans.

Younker writes for the Joplin, Missouri Globe.