A federal appeals panel ruled Friday that a judge here was wrong to bar public prayers from today's graduation ceremony at Medina Valley High School.

All week, the furor over the issue had attracted activists and political players who criticized the decision and supported valedictorian Angela Hildenbrand, who wants to pray during her commencement speech.

The AGAPE Movement, a Christian group based in Wichita Falls, announced Friday it would make buses available to transport people to the school in Castroville for a “peaceful disagreement” with this week's ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Fred Biery of San Antonio.

Hildenbrand said she was pleased and “so blessed that God has provided me with the opportunity to be a part of this case, and to be able to share with all my heart tomorrow night. ... Everything can go on as planned Saturday, and I'm free to pray as I feel appropriate.”

Kelly Shackelford, president/CEO of the Liberty Institute, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for churches caught up in legal tangles and which represented Hildenbrand, called the ruling “a complete victory for religious freedom and for Angela.”

The Institute said Friday that someone had called the high school and told a secretary that “Angela Hildenbrand better watch herself or she will get hurt” and said the Medina Valley Independent School District had reported it to Castroville police.

Chris Martinez, the district's assistant superintendent, wouldn't comment on it but said the district planned to beef up security at the graduation.

Federal courthouse sources in San Antonio, meanwhile, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Biery and the court got more than 500 calls from people all over the country, demanding he change his ruling. Some callers said they would “kick his ass” or made similar threats.

Biery's order had said the school district must tell its graduation speakers that they can talk about religion and their personal beliefs but can't pray or call on the audience to pray.

He was responding to a lawsuit filed last week by the parents of Corwyn Schultz, an agnostic member of Medina Valley's Class of 2011, that said the district regularly allowed prayers at graduations and other school events, which violated his constitutional rights.

“We are not persuaded that plaintiffs have shown that they are substantially likely to prevail on the merits (of their lawsuit), particularly on the issue that the individual prayers or other remarks to be given by students at graduation are, in fact, school-sponsored,” a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling Friday afternoon.

The plaintiffs' arguments are rooted in circumstances that no longer exist, the ruling stated, offering as an example that the school has “apparently abandoned” use of the terms “invocation” and “benediction” in the graduation program.

Schultz and his parents declined comment and said through their lawyers at Americans United for the Separation of Church and State that they would not attend the graduation.

“We are, of course, deeply disappointed in this ruling. We remain convinced that the school district's promotion of religion at the graduation ceremony violates the Constitution, and the rights of families who do not share that perspective,” said Ayesha Khan, the Washington-based group's legal director, adding that the lawsuit would continue but would be too late to affect today's graduation.

The appeals panel denied Hildenbrand's motion to intervene as a party to the suit, finding her arguments moot after siding with the district. The Institute had sought that status for her, using arguments that overlapped with the school district's appeal.

“It should not be illegal for students to say a prayer at a graduation ceremony. Now, the federal court of appeals agrees,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a prepared statement. His office's “amicus” brief supporting the district had said the terms “invocation” and “benediction” should not be removed from the graduation program.

But they already had. Martinez, the assistant superintendent, said the lawsuit prompted the district to scrutinize its policies and “we did come to the consensus that ‘invocation' and ‘benediction' could be misinterpreted. ... We have already changed them to ‘opening remarks' and ‘closing remarks.'”

Social media sites burst this week with comments from former students who planned to pray themselves if the graduating class was not allowed to.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn had blasted Biery's order, saying it was hostile to “all things religious in public life.” Gov. Rick Perry called it “reprehensible.”

An AGAPE Movement news release said it was preparing to bus people to Castroville to “take a stand for these graduating students,” and that a rally near the graduation site had been “preapproved” by the district. Martinez said the district wasn't taking a position on the rally — the graduation is open to the public but he had asked rally organizers to keep a discrete distance from it.

“While we are very appreciative of all the support we have received, at the same time, this ceremony is about our students,” Martinez said. “We want to make sure students and families can relax and enjoy the graduation.”

He said educators at the district “continue to be amazed at how well (students) have handled the situation. Even today with this order, they have still continued to be mature, compassionate and understanding.”

Asked if she had any thoughts about Schultz and his parents, Hildenbrand said she wished them the best, “both tomorrow night and in their futures.”

As originally published, this story contained an error.