Huntington High School Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Families Sue W.Va. School District Over Christian Assembly

A group of parents and students are suing a West Virginia school district for allowing an evangelical preacher to hold a religious revival assembly during the school day earlier this month that some students were required to attend.

The suit, filed in a U.S. District Court in West Virginia on Thursday on behalf of families by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, says the Cabell County school system in the southwestern part of the state has a systematic history of disregarding the religious freedom of its students and instituting Christian religious practices.

“For years, school system employees have violated the constitutional rights of students by promoting and advancing the Christian religion, as well as by coercing students into participating in Christian religious activity,” the suit reads. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a nonprofit that promotes the separation of church and state.

The suit follows a walkout at Huntington High School last week where more than 100 students left their classrooms chanting, “Separate the church and state,” and, “My faith, my choice.”

The Associated Press left a voicemail with Cabell County Schools spokesperson Jedd Flowers requesting comment Thursday afternoon. During an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, Flowers said the assembly was supposed to be voluntary, but two teachers brought their entire classes to the assembly. Flowers called it an honest mistake by the teachers.

“It’s unfortunate that it happened,” Flowers said. “We don’t believe it will ever happen again.”

In a statement on Friday, Cabell County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe said the district is investigating the revival event and that he believes some students’ rights have been violated. Saxe is named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says that on Feb. 2, two Huntington High School teachers escorted their entire homeroom classes to an assembly hosted by evangelical preacher Nik Walker, who had been leading revivals in the Huntington area in recent weeks.

Students, including a Jewish student who asked to leave but was not permitted to do so, were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, according to the lawsuit. The teens were asked to give their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Students said they were told that those who did not follow the Bible would go to “face eternal torment.”

The mother of the Jewish student who was forced to attend the assembly is among the suit’s plaintiffs, along with the Huntington High student who organized last week’s walkout.

During the assemblies, students and their families were encouraged to join evening services at a nearby church, where they could be baptized.

Nik Walker Ministries also visited another district school, Huntington East Middle School, on Feb. 1 and held a similar assembly.

Saxe said last week that the district honors students’ rights to express their views and respects their right to religious expression but that “forcing religious expression on those with differing beliefs is not acceptable and is not in alignment with district, state, or federal policy and will not be tolerated by my administration or the Board of Education.”

Freedom From Religion Foundation lawyers say that religious services — voluntary or not — should not be allowed during school hours. The foundation alleges it has written several legal complaint letters over the course of years that have been ignored by the school district.

In 2017, the foundation alerted Cabell County Schools about two separate religious assemblies that were held during the school day at Huntington High School, according to the lawsuit.

In 2019, the foundation said it wrote to the district regarding concerns that adults had created and were running religious clubs within Cabell County Schools.

Plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction barring the district from sponsoring any religious worship services, adult-led religious activities during the school day or participating in such events with students during the school day. They are also seeking damages of $1 per plaintiff, plus costs and attorneys’ fees.

W.Va. School District Investigating Religious Event

A West Virginia school superintendent is investigating a Feb. 2 religious revival event that occurred at Huntington High School, saying he believes some students’ rights have been violated.

Cabell County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe announced the investigation in a statement issued on Friday. About 100 students at the high school walked out in protest on Wednesday during an advisory period, chanting, “Separate the church and state” and, “My faith, my choice.”

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes had invited Nik Walker Ministries to hold a revival at the school, which was advertised as a voluntary event. School officials have said there was supposed to be a sign-up sheet to attend but that two teachers mistakenly took their entire classes.

That prompted complaints from some parents and from students who organized the walkout.

“It was reported to my staff that some students were required to attend a religious event during the school day,” Saxe said in the statement. “At this point in the investigation, it is my belief that some students’ rights have been violated. As the investigation continues, we must follow due process, which takes some time, in addressing any responsible employee while working to ensure a situation like this never occurs again.”

Saxe said the district honors students’ rights to express their views and respects their right to religious expression but that “forcing religious expression on those with differing beliefs is not acceptable and is not in alignment with district, state, or federal policy and will not be tolerated by my administration or the Board of Education.”

Students Walk Out Protesting ‘Mandatory’ Religious Service

About 200 students staged a protest Wednesday outside Huntington High School during their homeroom period over the constitutional protection of the separation of church and state.

The students were protesting a recent evangelical Christian service at the school. The service was supposed to be optional, but some students were forced to attend anyway.

Senior Max Nibert, organized the walkout, saying the service was a violation of his student rights.

“It’s one of the founding tenets of this country that everybody gets to practice what they want to practice,” he said. “And we’re guaranteed a religiously neutral public education experience by the establishment clause.”

He was referring to the clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prohibits the government from establishing a religion.

According to UScourts.gov, the test for an “establishment of religion” is often governed under the three-part test set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971).

Under the “Lemon” test, government can assist religion only if (1) the primary purpose of the assistance is secular, (2) the assistance must neither promote nor inhibit religion, and (3) there is no excessive entanglement between church and state.

Nibert said, moving forward, he would like to have some communication with the school administration and the Cabell County Board of Education.

“They haven’t gotten back to anybody. They were invited to a town hall meeting we’re putting on tonight to discuss the issue,” he said. “The board members declined so it doesn’t seem like they’re open to hearing us out and seeing what we want. I would love to see the possible creation of a policy related to what happened just to make sure this kind of thing never happened again.”

Cabell County Schools spokesperson Jedd Flowers was quoted by the Associated Press as saying he “didn’t believe” an incident like this would happen again. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out for comment, but did not receive a response.

Christian Revival At School Prompts Student Walkout In W.Va.

Between calculus and European history classes at a West Virginia public high school, 16-year-old Cameron Mays and his classmates were told by their teacher to go to an evangelical Christian revival assembly.

When students arrived at the event in the school’s auditorium, they were instructed to close their eyes and raise their arms in prayer, Mays said. The teens were asked to give their lives over to Jesus to find purpose and salvation. Those who did not follow the Bible would go to hell when they died, they were told.

The Huntington High School junior sent a text to his father.

“Is this legal?” he asked.

The answer, according to the U.S. Constitution, is no. In fact, the separation of church and state is one of the country’s founding basic tenets, noted Huntington High School senior Max Nibert.

“Just to see that defamed and ignored in such a blatant way, it’s disheartening,” he said.

Nibert and other Huntington students planned to stage a walkout during their homeroom period Wednesday to protest the assembly. School security turned away reporters who tried to cover the demonstration.

“I don’t think any kind of religious official should be hosted in a taxpayer-funded building with the express purpose of trying to convince minors to become baptized after school hours,” Nibert said.

The mini revival took place last week during COMPASS, a daily, “noninstructional” break in the schedule during which students can study for tests, work on college prep or listen to guest speakers, said Cabell County Schools spokesperson Jedd Flowers.

Flowers said the event was voluntary, organized by the school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He said there was supposed to be a signup sheet for students, but two teachers mistakenly brought their entire class.

“It’s unfortunate that it happened,” Flowers said. “We don’t believe it will ever happen again.”

But in this community of fewer than 50,000 people in southwestern West Virginia, the controversy has ignited a broader conversation about whether religious services — voluntary or not — should be allowed during school hours at all. A group of parents, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and other organizations say the answer to this question is also no. They say such events are a clear violation of students’ civil rights.

“It is inappropriate and unconstitutional for the District to offer religious leaders unique access to preach and proselytize students during school hours on school property,” Freedom From Religion Foundation, a nonprofit that promotes the separation of church and state, wrote in a letter to the school district. The district cannot “allow its schools to be used as recruiting grounds for churches,” the letter reads.

Last week’s assembly at Huntington High featured a sermon from 25-year-old evangelical preacher Nik Walker of Nik Walker Ministries, who has been leading revivals in the Huntington area for more than two weeks.

During the assemblies, students and their families are encouraged to join evening services at the nearby Christ Temple Church. More than 450 people, including 200 students, have been baptized at the church, according to Walker, who said he was scheduled to go to another public school and nearby Marshall University soon.

Bethany Felinton said her Jewish son was one of the students forced to attend the assembly at Huntington High. She said that when he asked to leave, the teacher told him their classroom door was locked and he couldn’t go. He sat back down in his seat, uncomfortable. Felinton said he felt he couldn’t disobey his teacher.

“It’s a completely unfair and unacceptable situation to put a teenager in,” she said. “I’m not knocking their faith, but there’s a time and place for everything — and in public schools, during the school day, is not the time and place.”

Mays’ father, Herman Mays, agrees.

“They can’t just play this game of, you know, ‘We’re going to choose this time as wiggle room, this gray area where we believe we can insert a church service,’” he said.

Walker said he has never contacted a school about coming to speak; it’s always the students who reach out to his ministry, he said.

“We don’t even have to knock on the door,” he said. “The students, they receive hope here (at Christ Temple Church) and then they want to bring hope to their school or to their classmates.”

Walker, originally from the small town of Mullens, West Virginia, has been traveling the state since he was 17 hosting church meetings at schools. He said he came to Huntington on Jan. 23 with plans to leave three days later but saw a need he felt compelled to address.

Walker said he sees a lot of “hopelessness” in the Huntington area: students struggling with addiction, anxiety and depression.

“When you see regions like this, then you really know they need the Lord,” he said, drinking a cup of hot tea with honey to soothe his throat after a couple of hours of preaching.

Tolsia High School freshman Mckenzie Cassell said she was excited for Walker to come to speak to her and her peers. She attends Christ Temple Church, where she said she is now seeing a lot more young people since Walker started his work in the schools.

“It’s awesome to see a lot of young kids coming,” she said.

Cassell’s guardian, Cindy Cassell said it’s been powerful to see someone make such an impression on young people in town.

“The kids want it and they’re ready for change in the right direction,” she said.

October 9, 2001: Actress and Model Dagmar Dies

The entertainer known as Dagmar died on October 9, 2001. In the 1950s, she was one of the most recognizable faces on television and even graced the cover of Life magazine.

She was born as Virginia Ruth Egnor in Logan County in 1921. At an early age, she moved with her family to Huntington, where she attended Huntington High School. During World War II, she moved to New York City and found work as a sweater model and Broadway actress. Her big breakthrough came in 1950, when she began appearing on NBC’s Broadway Open House. Audiences loved her deadpan delivery of punch lines and deliberate misuse of words. In one skit, she appeared as a character named Dagmar, and the name stuck. In her early career, she performed on stage with Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra. And, at one point, she was receiving 2,000 fan letters a week.

In 1952, she briefly hosted her own series called Dagmar’s Canteen. She drifted out of the spotlight after the 1950s but continued to perform in nightclubs. Dagmar moved back to West Virginia at age 75 and lived her final years in Ceredo.

Huntington High Evacuated After Firework Type Device Found

Huntington Police evacuated Huntington High school Thursday afternoon after school administrators received reports that a student had an explosive device.

Late Thursday morning Huntington Police were called to the high school because of a report of a firework type device found in the possession of a juvenile. The student had shown the device to another juvenile who reported it. Huntington Police Chief Joe Ciccarelli says the onsite resource officer, who is a member of the Huntington Police Department arrested the individual. The device was then recovered and rendered inert.

It looked like an Easter egg with firecrackers, it wasn't a lethal device. But it was something that was concerning. — Director of Communications of Cabell County Schools, Jeff Flowers

Students were evacuated to the football field and then picked up by parents or rode the bus home. Chief Ciccarelli says an investigation will continue.

Both the suspect and witness in the case were juveniles