Petition for the Cabell County Board of Education to Take Further Action Concerning the Nik Walker Incident.

The doors of Huntington High School were recently opened during the school day to a Christian revivalist minister by the name of Nik Walker. Having listened to an audio recording of Walker's sermon that day, it is obvious that he used manipulative language, and even had church-affiliated practitioners make physical contact with students.

"I'm going to send some people from Christ Temple to come down to where you stand. So if you feel a hand on your shoulder, they're just going to come and pray with you and agree with you that it's time to follow Jesus.

        - Nik Walker, 3.35 into the Audio Recording of his Sermon at Huntington High School

There is now conjecture that Walker was not even invited, as was previously claimed, by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Despite all this, the student body's main concern originates from our school's staff. That day, several teachers forced their students to attend this already impermissible school-sponsored religious service. This is a clear and inexcusable violation of our rights as students and as Americans; we are guaranteed a religiously neutral public education experience by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The only official response to this incident came from the county's Director of Communications Jedd Flowers in a comment to WSAZ. He referred to the incident as a "mistake" and said it's something the county "hope[s] will never happen again." As the group most harmed by the negligent actions of certain individual teachers and the Board of Education, we find this response completely unacceptable.

It is not the place or responsibility of students to make a list of demands from their governing body. What follows are suggestions as to what may help make the situation right, from the perspective of a student.

        - An in-depth statement and apology from the Cabell County Board of Education were formally universally disseminated to parents. Such a statement would ensure total understanding of the situation by all parties involved and show the county's dedication to keeping incidents like this from happening.

        - Review/creation of a Board policy by its members about religion and religiously motivated speakers in our schools. This policy should set the precedent for related offenses and corresponding punishment in the future.

         - Formal discipline against any teacher that made attendance of the sermon compulsory "Mistake" or not, Constitutional violations must be taken seriously. With the incident regarding Ms. Ashworth at Milton Middle School in recent memory, the Board must begin taking punitive action against such offenses or it simply never will.

Freedom of religion, and abstinence from any action that threatens that right, is not too much to ask.

We, the student body of Huntington High School, demand serious action from those tasked with protecting and molding us. Anything less would be an utter failure at that responsibility.

Those providing a signature of support and any recipients of this petition should note that the student-led walkout of February 9th is supported by both the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.