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Prayer issue stirs antics at meeting
By BARBARA BEHRENDT © St. Petersburg Times, published April 12, 2001 INVERNESS -- Tuesday's School Board meeting had a familiar ring. Board member Carol Snyder made another motion to have the meetings open with a moment of silence and, again, no one seconded the motion. It died. Pagan Charles Schrader was again at the podium, blasting the board for its conservative Christian fundamentalism. This time he ripped pages out of a Bible he said he retrieved from the trash when his wife decided she no longer wanted to be a Christian because of the way the Christians in Citrus County behaved. But there was also a sharp rise in the rhetoric that has swirled for more than four months over the way the School Board opens its meetings. At Tuesday's session, all the gloves had been removed and personal attacks flew. Snyder has pushed the board to drop the nearly all Christian-specific prayers at the beginning of meetings in favor of a moment of silent reflection. Board member Ginger Bryant had opened Tuesday's meeting with a moment of silent prayer. "Try to remember all the things we have to be thankful for," she said. The previous board meeting also opened with a moment of silence offered by board member Pat Deutschman in memory of teacher who had recently died. But when Snyder noted near the end of the meeting that a longtime community leader and school volunteer, Bert Miller, had expressed appreciation for the moment of silence, Deutschman blasted Snyder. "I kind of resent being judged for what my practices are," Deutschman said. She said that she had offered the moment of silence in memory of a friend and respected teacher. "I did not have a moment of silence for Mr. Miller's sake," she said. Miller, a Jew, has expressed concern to board members about their previous practice of praying strictly-Christian opening prayers. That sentiment was echoed by Beverly Hills resident Jane Fricano who congratulated Bryant for her moment of silence. Fricano was Snyder's opponent in last year's School Board election. Schrader also went on a new offensive Tuesday. He continued his attacks on Board Chairwoman Patience Nave but also turned his attention to board member Sandra "Sam" Himmel. He reminded her of a statement she made when he first interrupted a board prayer with a pagan chant in January. At that time, Himmel commented that, if he were her child, she would slap him for the interruption. Schrader questioned what kind of role model she is for her own children. Meanwhile, family connections got Snyder into a debate with Don Bates, who has been circulating a petition of "no confidence" in her. He said he has 10,500 signatures. Bates, a sales consultant with Crystal Chevrolet, said that Joe Acker, Snyder's son-in-law, tried to get him fired for his work on the petition drive. At the end of the meeting, Snyder asked to speak as a citizen, stepping down from the board's dais and speaking at the public microphone. She said she hoped Bates took responsibility for all of the things his family members did and pointed out that she was not a party to whatever Acker had done. Snyder told the board that the meeting had been lengthened and interrupted by the prayer issue again and that, because of the county's diverse population and the fact that the board swore an oath to protect the Constitution, she was again making the motion for a moment of silence. On Wednesday she said she may make the motion again.
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