Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti accused a Nashville public school of “promoting particular religious viewpoints” through its accommodation of Muslim students during Ramadan, saying the school crossed the line from allowing religious exercise to actively facilitating it.
In a Tuesday interview with the Tennessee Star, Skrmetti responded to reports that a Metro Nashville Public Schools employee set up a dedicated Islamic prayer room at John Overton High School and encouraged Muslim students to skip class to use it.
“Free exercise says the government can’t stop you from practicing your religion,” Skrmetti explained. “The establishment clause, as interpreted, and as we hear about every time the legislature tries to do anything these days, says that the state can’t … participate in promoting particular religious viewpoints.”
🚨BREAKING – I asked @AGTennessee Skrmetti today if the MNPS decision to allow Muslim prayers during school hours in a dedicated room led by an MNPS employee at Overton High School coerces non-Muslim students and violates the Religious Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/LhaaXAwEgL
— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) April 14, 2026
John Overton High School, according to a report from the Nashville Banner, permitted more than 80 students to skip class daily during Ramadan prayer sessions, in addition to separate “food-free” classrooms for fasting Muslim students. Student reportedly used paper towels as improvised prayer mats and set up a divider separating boys and girls before one student recited passages from the Quran. Outside of the month of Ramadan, students are reportedly permitted to leave school grounds once a month to pray.
“So if the school is dedicating resources to something, that’s a very different situation than if the students are self-organizing,” Skrmetti added. “I look at it as an attempt to propagandize and proselytize [non-Muslim] students. That’s my view.”
In a similar vein, the U.S. Department of Education guidance released in February states that “public schools may not sponsor prayer nor coerce or pressure students to pray.”
“School officials should allow members of the public school community to act and speak according to their faith, as long as… The school itself does not engage in religious activities or speech as an institution,” the guidance continues.
The Tennessee attorney general teased further state action on the issue, concluding: “I expect that we’ll be hearing more about it one way or another.”
The controversy comes as Tennessee lawmakers grapple with the role of religion in public schools more broadly. State House Bill 1491, which would have required public schools to set aside a period for prayer and Bible reading, was temporarily tabled in a 12-7 committee vote last week in favor of further research on the issue over the summer.
Proponents of the bill argue that the bill aligns with the Supreme Court’s Kennedy v. Bremerton decision in 2022, which held that the First Amendment protects individuals engaging in religious activities from government reprisal.
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