Schools

Judge: Prayer Banner Case is Over

Judge Ronald R. Lagueux rejected an eleventh hour request by a group of past and present students at Cranston West to reconsider his January ruling ordering a prayer banner in the school to come down.

U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux essentially closed the book on the Cranston West prayer banner case yesterday when he rejected a request from some current and former students to reconsider his Janurary ruling ordering the school district to remove the religious mural from an auditorium wall.

The Providence Journal reported that Lagueux's denial said the group, which consisted of three former and three current Cranston High School West students and a North Providence resident, was too late. He also said they did not have standing in the case.

Their request was filed after the district opted to not appeal the judge's ruling and the banner had already been cut from the wall. The district also agreed to pay the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union $150,000 in legal fees.

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The school district has been mum on where the banner will end up. A growing list of private organizations, including a church and a handful of private business owners, have offered to give the banner a new home. But school officials have not given any indication where it might go, stating that it will be decided at a future School Committee meeting. They also have been vague as to its current whereabouts, stating only that it is in a "secure facility."

When asked where the banner was on Wednesday, "it's in the back of my car," Superintendent Peter Nero joked.

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