Donna Wert said she "felt a void" when Penn Manor school board opened its meeting last month with a moment of silence.

Bryant Ferris said he's not happy that Pequea Valley school board meetings now begin with a brief period of quiet reflection.

It's not the silence that bothers them, but what it represents — the end of a long-standing tradition of starting their meetings with prayer.

Their school boards, along with Cocalico, have abandoned the practice of reciting prayers at public meetings in response to a federal court ruling that declared the practice unconstitutional.

Handed down in August, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals decision found that a Delaware school board violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution with its public prayer policy.

On the advice of legal counsel, the three local districts have reluctantly replaced prayer at their meetings with a moment of silence, joining six other districts in Lancaster County that, for years, have begun their meetings that way.

Four other districts neither pray nor observe a silent pause at the start of their meetings.

Only four districts — Columbia, Eastern Lancaster County, Lampeter-Strasburg and Octorara — now pray at their public meetings each month.

School board members that recently stopped the practice said they had little choice but to change to avoid potential legal problems.

"I hate it that we had to do this," said Ferris, president of the PV board. "Our community is a very strong, Christian-based community and we have never had anyone question us opening a meeting with a prayer to my knowledge."

But to avoid a legal challenge that could involve expensive legal fees, the school board's solicitor advised members to stop praying in public, he said.

"All nine board members disagreed with the decision but felt it was the right thing to do to comply with the law."

The August ruling overturned an earlier decision by a Delaware district court that said school board prayers were protected speech under a Supreme Court statute that allows legislative bodies, such as borough councils and state Legislatures, to pray publicly.

But the federal appeals court ruled that school board meetings — because they are often attended by students — are an extension of the public school environment, where school-sponsored public prayer is not permitted.

Wert said she was dismayed that another avenue for public expression of faith was being eliminated.

"I get tired of seeing laws made for such a small minority of people when I believe that we represent our constituents" by praying, she said, pointing out that she was speaking for herself, not for the entire board.

For at least the last 14 years, Penn Manor had opened its school board meetings with a prayer by either a board member or the superintendent. The task was rotated among members, who were free to say or read whatever they chose.

"It might be a reading or a thought-provoking spiritual-type" address, Wert said. "I personally would pray for the students, the administration, the faculty, and I also included a prayer for the troops."

Board president Rich Frerichs said the prayers were usually general in nature and not associated with a particular religion.

He said the Penn Manor board wanted to continue the tradition but felt it had to follow the letter of the law and comply with the Delaware court ruling, which has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

As a result of the ruling, Cocalico school board members last month began meeting privately to pray before convening their board meetings, ending a public prayer tradition that goes back at least 30 years.

"To reflect our own desire to ask the Lord's blessing, we decided we would have our own prayer in private," Kevin Eshleman, board vice president, said.

Eshleman said he understands the district "has to be and wants to be" open to people of all faiths and backgrounds, but he believes "the majority of our community would be content and even glad that we asked the Lord's blessings at our meetings."

Nonetheless, he said, "part of our swearing in (as board members) was to uphold the law, so we can't go against what the law was saying."

The Delaware court case began in 2005 when two families sued Indian River School District, claiming the public prayers were Christian in nature and created an "environment of religious exclusion."

The Third Circuit panel ruled that the school board's prayer policy "rises above the level of interaction between church and state that the Establishment Clause permits."

Officials at the other local districts that continue to offer prayers at their public meetings said they were aware of the ruling, but their school boards had not publicly discussed changing their procedures.

In Columbia, board members take turns reciting prayers of their choosing, while in Octorara the board recites "The Lord's Prayer" at the start of meetings.

Elanco board members also take turns praying each month, but the prayers are delivered before the meetings are formally called to order.

That procedural change was initiated a couple of years ago at the suggestion of superintendent Bob Hollister.

"It's a simple adjustment that seems to work," Hollister said in an email.

School District of Lancaster starts each voting meeting by reciting the names of staff members who have recently died, followed by a moment of silence.

The county's other districts either do nothing or hold a moment of silence before conducting their business.

Hempfield superintendent Brenda Becker said she believes school boards, in their official actions, should avoid all expressions of faith.

"Although I have my personal thoughts regarding the importance of prayer and faith, in an official capacity, I do not believe we should be thrusting our religious values on others," she said in an email.

"Our community is diverse, with many different religions represented. Thus, if we are honoring someone in our community who has recently been through tough times or has passed away, we typically would offer a moment of silence so individuals can show respect to that person in their own way.

"As public entities, we look at this as separation of church and state."

bwallace@lnpnews.com