President Trump announces new guidance protecting prayer in public schools

President Donald Trump pledged new federal protections for student prayer this week, spotlighting a Texas student who was once forced to hide behind a curtain to pray with her friends.

Speaking Monday at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Trump criticized schools for what he described as “anti-religious propaganda” and harsh punishments against students who express their faith. He introduced Hannah Allen of Honey Grove, Texas, recalling her story as an example of why new protections are needed.

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In 2018, Allen and her friends prayed quietly during lunch for a classmate who had been injured. Instead of supporting the students, the principal ordered them to stop and later told them they could only pray if they hid behind a cafeteria curtain, went outside, or secluded themselves in an empty gym, according to a letter from First Liberty Institute.

First Liberty sent the letter to Honey Grove ISD warning that the school’s actions were unconstitutional. The letter explained that voluntary student prayer during non-instructional time is clearly protected under the First Amendment, the Free Exercise Clause, and even Texas state law.

”By mandating that Hannah and the other students hide when they pray, Principal Frost sends a message to Hannah and all the other students in the school that prayer is illegitimate, disfavored, and should not occur in public,” First Liberty attorney Keisha Russell wrote in the 2018 letter.

After receiving the demand letter, Honey Grove ISD reversed course and allowed Hannah and her classmates to continue praying during lunch. But Trump argued that the episode illustrates the need for nationwide protections.

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“For most of our country’s history the Bible was found in every classroom,” Trump said on Monday, pledging new Education Department guidance to safeguard prayer in schools.

The case of Hannah Allen continues to resonate because it shows how quickly students’ basic rights can be suppressed and how federal policy may soon shift again to defend them.