CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island public school committee on Thursday voted not to appeal a federal court decision ordering the removal of a prayer banner displayed in a high school.
The Cranston School Committee cast the 5-2 vote at a public hearing to discuss a lawsuit that had been brought on behalf of 16-year-old atheist Jessica Ahlquist, a junior at Cranston High School West.
"I'm thrilled," Ahlquist said after the vote.
The banner, put up in 1963, has been covered since a federal judge last month ruled it was unconstitutional and ordered it removed. The Class of 1963, which was the first to graduate from the school, gave the prayer banner and school creed as gifts.
Appeal opponents cited the legal costs as grounds for giving up the fight and proposed saving the money for education costs.
Lawyers representing Ahlquist have asked the court to order the city to pay $173,000 for legal fees. Attorney Joseph Cavanagh Jr., who represented the city, said a legal fight in the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston and the U.S. Supreme Court would cost another $500,000 in legal fees.
"You will be wasting time and incredible resources. Half a million dollars? How dare you," resident Rosemary Tregar said.
The costs swayed two members of the school committee who had voted last year to fight litigation over the banner.
Committee member Paula McFarland said the city is facing rising poverty and money must be spent wisely, drawing jeers from appeal supporters.
"This is what I don't like about this community," she said. "You have divided yourself in half."
Appeal supporter, Christopher Young, who is running for U.S. Congress, said he is talking to students about suing the school.
Student David Sears Jr., 15, asked the board to appeal.
"We have to appeal for the students of Cranston High School West and we have to appeal for our humanity," he said.
The legal battle over the banner incited passionate debate on both sides and made Ahlquist the target of online threats.
The atmosphere in auditorium was raucous at times. People pressing for the legal fight to continue wore signs around their necks that said "Appeal."
Some Ahlquist supporters wore T-shirts that said "Evil little thing," a reference to comments made by state Rep. Peter G. Palumbo, a Cranston Democrat, about the teen on talk radio.
After the court ruling, the junior was briefly shadowed by a police officer at school, and several florists declined to deliver flowers to her from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
People have flocked to school committee meetings to voice their opinions and protests have been held outside the high school.
Richard Tomlins, 80, an unsuccessful candidate for Cranston mayor in 2010, said he spent about $1,000 on automated calls and an online video that urged residents to push the school committee to appeal. He was gaveled down after going over his time limit for speaking and ended his address after being approached by a police officer.
The dispute began after Ahlquist noticed the prayer banner displayed in the school auditorium at the end of her freshman year. Ahlquist, who has been an atheist since age 10, started a Facebook page to support removing the banner and argued for taking it down before the school committee, according to court filings.
The prayer encourages students to strive academically. It begins with the words "Our Heavenly Father" and ends with "Amen."
Ahlquist argued the banner didn't belong in school and signaled to her that the school didn't respect her views.
The school committee voted in March to fight litigation over the banner. Volunteer attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on Ahlquist's behalf in April.
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