Student forced to attend religious meeting at North Texas high school, dad says
The father of a Mansfield Lake Ridge High School student said his son was forced to attend a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting during his study hall period on Monday.
Jon Luna said his son texted his mother telling her that students were praying and that he didn’t know what to do.
“It was so different than anything he had ever experienced,” Luna said. “He said everyone had their heads down and were praying. The pastor was pointing to people and saying do you accept Jesus.”
He said his son was supposed to be in his advisory class doing his homework and asking for help, but he received an email telling him to report to the auditorium and that the meeting was mandatory.
The email was from his son’s adviser, a math teacher and coach.
Luna’s wife asked their son to send a screen shot and a recording of what was happening.
Luna said his son described a pastor on stage who told students to open their Bible and, if they didn’t have one, to pull it up on their phone.
“Our son had no idea of what was going on, and he didn’t know what to do,” Luna said.
Luna said his family doesn’t attend church, but they don’t criticize others about their beliefs.
Luna said when learned what was going on, he immediately went to the high school and asked to take his son home for the day.
Luna described going to the front office, and the employees told him that his son shouldn’t be in the meeting.
“They saw the gravity of just what happened,” Luna said.
The district said in a statement that participation in FCA is a voluntary activity.
“The opportunity to attend FCA during advisory is a recent scheduling change at the campus,” the statement reads. “Going forward, the teacher will ensure that students understand their attendance at such a meeting is entirely optional, and alternatives will be made clear.”
Luna said his family comes from a Native American background, and he recalled hearing stories from his grandfather about children who were sent to Christian schools where they were not allowed to speak their languages, and many were abused.
“If you are going to impose one religion, then you should give access to others,” Luna said.
This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 1:08 PM.