Keeping Religion Out of School

In 1995 President Bill Clinton said, "Nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door." This is a very important policy because it allows religious students to take time out of their day, if they need to, to pray or do anything else to honor their religion. However, the separation of church and state prevents public schools from preaching religion and making their students practice religion. The Portland Adventist Academy tried to push the limits of separation of church and state. Since they were Seventh Day Adventists they could not do work on their sabbath which went from sundown Friday to sundown on Saturday. Because of this, their athletic teams could not participate in games or tournaments during the sabbath. The state basketball tournament was generally played on Saturday afternoon which would keep the Portland Adventist Academy from participating if they were to reach the State Finals. The school board tried to petition to change the time of the State Finals.