Public School Creates New Religious Accommodation
At John Overton High School in South Nashville, students who sign up can leave class in the afternoon for about 15 minutes to pray in a designated area on campus. According to the Nashville Banner, more than 80 students…
At John Overton High School in South Nashville, students who sign up can leave class in the afternoon for about 15 minutes to pray in a designated area on campus.
According to the Nashville Banner, more than 80 students have taken part. Outside of Ramadan, the school still allows students to step out once a month for prayer.
During Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until sunset, the school has also set aside classrooms where no food is allowed during lunch. Ten teachers volunteered their rooms for this, giving fasting students a place to spend that time without being surrounded by food.
The prayer setup itself is simple. Students gather in a foyer, lay down paper towels to use as prayer mats, and put up a divider to separate boys and girls.
One student typically leads the prayer and recites verses from the Quran. A staff member, Al-Nadir Muhammad, oversees the process and helps make sure everything runs smoothly.
The school didn’t arrive at this system overnight. The Banner reported that students and staff had been asking for a more consistent way to accommodate daily prayer for years. Over time, the school worked out a routine that fit within the school day without causing major disruptions.
For some, the changes are a big shift from what school used to feel like. Revas Barwari, a teacher at the school, told the Banner that when she was a student in Nashville, she felt like she had to hide the fact that she was fasting.
Seeing the school now actively making room for students’ religious practices stood out to her. She also pointed out that students themselves may not fully realize how unusual it is for a school to adjust its schedule in this way.
The effort also lines up with broader guidance. The U.S. Department of Education says public schools must allow student religious expression, including prayer, as long as it’s voluntary and not organized or promoted by the school itself. Schools are expected to stay neutral, neither favoring nor discouraging any particular religion.
Advocacy groups have also pushed for these kinds of accommodations. The American Muslim Advisory Council, for example, has encouraged schools to provide space for fasting students and to be mindful of physical demands during Ramadan.