OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Several Oklahoma school districts say they will NOT show students or parents a video of state Superintendent Ryan Walters inviting them to pray for President-elect Donald Trump. The video was sent to all district inspectors as a ‘mandatory announcement’ on Thursday.

School districts across the state and legal experts told Fox 25 that Superintendent Walters does not have the authority to require school districts to show the video, and legal experts say if districts show the video, they could face legal consequences.

In an email sent to district superintendents Thursday, Walters directed a video in which he spoke directly to students and prayed that it would be shown to students and sent to parents.

“Playing a prayer video for students and forcing them to watch would violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, it would violate the separation of church and state, it would violate students’ religious freedoms,” said Associate Vice President & Associate Legal Director of Americans United for Separation of Church & State, Alex Luchenitser.

Just hours after the email was sent to districts, Walters remembered it.

According to the state Department of Education, the email was recalled because the video link was not working and then the directive was resent to all districts, but to different districts including Mustang Public Schools, Edmond Public Schools, Yukon Public Schools and Mid-Del Public Schools told Fox 25 they would show the video to students or parents and said Walters does not have the authority to require them to share the content.

“It’s pretty clear that Ryan Walters does not have the authority to dictate curriculum or tell supervisors to show a particular video,” said Chris Line, legal counsel for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office agrees;

There is no legal authority for the superintendent of state schools to require all students to watch a specific video. Not only is this edict unenforceable, it also violates parental rights, local control, and the individual’s right to free exercise.

Legal experts say if districts show the video, they could end up in court.

“They are not allowed to show this video to students, and in fact they are probably breaking the law if they do show this video to students,” Line said. reliability.”

Mustang Public Schools sent this statement about the video:

Mustang Public Schools is aware of the recent email from the state Superintendent regarding the distribution of a video. After review, the district decided not to distribute the video. Our priority remains the use of instructional time for our local curriculum and activities, which are carefully developed by our dedicated staff, approved by our locally elected school board, and adhere to the Oklahoma Academic Standards.

Edmond Public Schools sent this statement about the video:

The email we received was recalled last night. We have no plans to show the video.

Yukon Public Schools sent this statement about the video:

Yukon Public Schools will not show the video to students or forward emails to our parents. YPS will continue to teach the standards and curriculum adopted by Oklahoma state legislators. Any changes will be based on local decisions. The Oklahoma Supreme Court unanimously ruled that these types of decisions must be made by the school district and local school board.

Mid-Del Public Schools sent this statement about the video:

We have seen the email and video sent by Chief Inspector Walters yesterday. We do not believe he has the legal authority to require us to share this content. We will not show the video in class or send it to parents.

Santa Fe South Schools and Stillwater Public Schools said they had no comment.

OKCPS told Fox 25 that district leaders would meet Friday afternoon to discuss the video.

Fox 25 is still waiting to hear back from several other school districts in Oklahoma.