Kindergartner Praying Over Lunch Stopped By Teacher at Carillion Elementary in Oviedo (VIDEO)
The parents of an Oviedo 5-year-old insist their daughter was stopped from praying over her school lunch last month, but Seminole County Public Schools officials say no one remembers that happening.
Marcos Perez posted a video last week on YouTube of his daughter, Gabriella, a kindergartner at Carillion Elementary in Oviedo, saying she was confronted when she bowed her head to pray at lunch.
“The lunch teacher said, ‘You’re not allowed to pray,'” the girl recalled. “I said, ‘It’s good to pray. She said, ‘It’s not good.'”
The family said the incident happened during the week of March 10. Seminole County Public Schools officials say Principal Analynn Jones spoke to staff that could have been in the cafeteria at the time and could not find anyone who recalled it.
“She wanted to pray, but she’s a rule-follower,” said Kathy Perez, Gabriella’s mother, during a news conference Tuesday near the school. “I told her she did the right thing. I don’t doubt for a minute that my daughter is telling the truth.”
VIDEO: Kindergartner Praying Over Lunch