At this year's graduation ceremony for students of Medina Valley High School, publicly uttered prayer is out — but individual references to a higher being are allowed.

Such was the ruling Tuesday from Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in a lawsuit filed by Christa and Danny Schultz on behalf of one of their sons, who is one of the 238 seniors who will graduate Saturday from the school in Castroville.

The Schultz family is agnostic and says a son who graduated in 2009 was wrongly subjected to school-sponsored prayer, something the school district has repeatedly allowed despite long-standing legal precedent that bars it.

In the lawsuit, the Schultzes alleged that the Medina Valley Independent School District regularly runs afoul of the Constitution on the prayer issue and will violate the rights of the graduating son, who was known in court only by the initials C.S. but was identified by district officials as Corwyn Schultz.

The lawsuit, filed late last week, sought an emergency court order barring the district from sponsoring school prayer at graduation, and Biery largely granted it. He told the district to tweak its program, which had not yet been printed, and instruct speakers so that the ceremony won't include prayer.

But Biery left the door open for student speakers to invoke individual beliefs as long as they don't ask the audience to pray.

Tuesday's order does not end the case. The lawsuit also alleges similar violations are likely at future school events. Biery advised the parties to come together to address those situations.

The district said it would follow the order.

“We want to be clear, it's one parent's position,” Assistant Superintendent Chris Martinez said of the plaintiffs. “We don't believe, as a school district, that we have done anything wrong.”

The district has received support from the community, the country and overseas, Martinez and other district officials said.

Craig Wood, one of the district's lawyers, acknowledged that the school's graduation programs in the past have said “invocation” and “benediction” but only because the terms are traditional. No one has asked graduation attendees in recent years to pray, district officials said.

The Schultzes' lawyers argued that “invocation” and “benediction” are invitations from the district for prayer, and therefore, an endorsement.

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Ayesha N. Khan, legal director of Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the school has forced prayer on the Schultzes' sons and other students at other events. She noted Corwyn Schultz quit band because he had been forced to stand at events for prayer, which also happens at athletic events.

“It appears the school district has been violating the Constitution for decades,” Khan said.

For Saturday's graduation, Biery said, speakers can't call for the audience to stand and bow their heads, or use religious phrases referring to prayer, such as “let's pray,” “amen” and so forth.

“The adults will instruct the student leaders on what they can and can't say,” Biery said. “Then everyone count to 10, take a deep breath and let these students enjoy their special moment, including the young Mr. Schultz.”