A Minnesota school is planning to develop a prayer room and foot-washing station for its Muslim students. The plan was confirmed to Alpha News reporter Liz Collin.
Collin wrote on X that Osseo Senior High School’s foot-washing plans “were included in updated plans after hearing from user groups on student needs.” The individual providing the tip added, “This is undoubtedly for Muslim students only. I cannot understand how this can be happening in this era of no religion in schools.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) condemned the development on X. “Turns out, when the woke left says they want religion out of schools, they’re only talking about Christianity,” he wrote. “Maybe if Osseo worried about Somali gang violence as much as they worry about pandering to America-hating leftists, their schools and streets would be safer for their students. Just a thought.”
Under Minnesota law, students in public schools “may pray or engage in religious activities or religious expression before, during, and after the school day in the same manner and to the same extent that students may engage in nonreligious activities or expression.”
“If student groups that meet for nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce meetings of the groups, the school district may not discriminate against groups that meet for prayer or other religious speech,” the state law adds. “A school district may disclaim school sponsorship of noncurricular groups and events in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors groups that meet to engage in prayer or religious speech.”
A similar accommodation was made at a Nashville, Tennessee, school. The public school permitted students to leave class to pray and offered food-free zones in honor of Ramadan.
A school spokesperson clarified that the bell schedule was not changed, but that students were instead provided with religious accommodations. “Students were provided accommodations, as needed, during prayer times so they could briefly leave class. Similar accommodations would be considered for students of other faiths based on individual needs and circumstances,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to the Nashville Banner. “The activities referenced … were student-led and voluntary.”
