Ryan Walters Requires Oklahoma Students To Watch Prayer Video, Some Districts Opt Out

State Superintendent Ryan Walters emailed every Oklahoma superintendent, saying he's requiring all Oklahoma schools to play a roughly 90-second video to all enrolled children and send it to their parents. District leaders said there was a recall notification sent after the first email, followed by a third email with the same video and mandate.

Friday, November 15th 2024, 8:39 am

By: News On 6

State Superintendent Ryan Walters emailed every Oklahoma superintendent, saying he's requiring all Oklahoma schools play a roughly 90 second video to all kids who are enrolled and send it to their parents.

There was some confusion after the video went out, Bixby and Edmond Public Schools, said that OSDE recalled the email sent to them before resending the original video, and email with no changes.

Walters has clarified that the video and emails were recalled because of an issue with the link which was corrected in the second email.

In the video, Walters prays for Oklahoma kids and stresses that students do not have to join him in prayer.

He also explains why he created the Department of Religious Liberty and Patriotism within the State Department of Education and its role.

""Dear God, thank you for all the blessings you've given our country. I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions, I pray inparticular for President Donald Trump and his team as they continue to bring about change to the country. I pray for our parents, teachers and kids that they get the best education possible and live high quality lives. I also pray that we continue to teach love of country to our young people, and that our students understand what makes America great and that they continue to love this country. Amen."

Several districts have confirmed that they received an email from Walters late Thursday night containing the video of Walters praying and instructions for Oklahoma school districts to have students view it and send it to parents.

News On 6 and News 9 have reached out to districts across the state with several saying they are electing not to show the video. Those schools are Bixby Public Schools, Caney Valley Public Schools, Edmonds Public Schools, Union Public Schools, Owasso Public Schools, Jenks Public Schools, Tulsa Public Schools, and Preston Public Schools.

Kellyville Public Schools, Collinsville Public Schools, and Oologah Public Schools have not yet responded.

The full video can be found below.