Fifth grader speaks out after school bans her from starting interfaith prayer club due to ‘lack of funding’ just a week after endorsing LGBTQ Pride group

A Washington State fifth grader who says she felt ‘alone’ and wanted to start an interfaith prayer club at her school is speaking out after her request was rejected by teachers.

Laura Toney, who is 11 and attends Creekside Elementary School in Sammamish, east of Seattle, had hoped to start a club on campus to bring together students of different faith backgrounds to ‘serve their community.’

But her proposal to start such a club was rejected despite the fact that a Pride Club was started only weeks earlier.

‘I wanted to start it because I felt a bit alone in the classroom and at school and then I realized that I had some friends and I knew some other people who felt the same way and so I talked to them, and i was like you know what a good idea it would be to make a club where people could meet and do good in the community,” Laura said Fox News.

The school is now being accused of violating the young student’s First Amendment protections against religious freedom by denying her request.

‘I think it’s something I’m very passionate about. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t really want to make it happen, if I didn’t think it would be a great opportunity for everyone,” Laura added.

Creekside already allows more than a dozen other “non-religious clubs” to meet, including a Pride Club, which is a “safe space” to educate students and staff about “LGBTQIA+ history and people,” according to the school’s website.

Principal Amy Allison also allows a green team to focus on making the school ‘more sustainable’. A Marimba Club, Chess Club and Student Council are all among other secular groups currently permitted.

Laura’s mother, Kayla Toney, is a staff attorney at the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit Christian, conservative legal organization that often litigates First Amendment cases about religion.

“The First Amendment is clear, the Free Speech Clause and the Free Exercise Clause both protect Laura’s ability to pray, to talk about her faith, to gather with other religious students, and the law is clear,” Kayla Toney said during the same Fox interview.

“If the school allows at least one non-curricular club, regardless of what the club is about, it has to allow a religious club, and it’s actually viewpoint discrimination to deny a religious club just because it’s religious.”

Creekside Elementary allows a Pride Club, which is a ‘safe space for students to build community’ as well as to ‘educate and increase student and staff awareness of LGBTQIA+ history and people,’ according to the school’s website

The Pride club is said to have only recently started at the school, but Laura’s request for a prayer club was turned down citing funding issues

Kayla Toney has recanted her beliefs in a detailed letter to the Issaquah School District on behalf of First Liberty Institute, warning of how the school is unconstitutional.

‘To deny the formation of a religious student club while allowing other clubs is unconstitutional. School officials at Creekside Elementary engaged in religious discrimination against an eleven-year-old girl who simply wanted to pray, feel supported by other religious friends, and perform community service.’

When Laura and her mother met with Principal Allison in February, it was claimed how all funding for school clubs had already been allocated back in October, but the pair claim how a Pride Club was launched just a week before the meeting took place.

A spokesperson for the school has explained the prayer club’s lack of funding.

“Once the school year begins, the building budget is set and additional clubs are not usually added until the following school year,” the school stated, but Kayla doesn’t buy the school’s reasoning.

‘She (Laura) even offered to do fundraisers if needed. The Pride club had started again just a week before, and another club is also due to start quite soon. So that excuse definitely didn’t make sense,’ Kayla explained.

‘The Supreme Court made it very clear that the First Amendment protects the freedom and opportunity of students and staff to live out their faith in public, to pray, to practice their faith. It’s not something we have to hide as Americans because we have this strong First Amendment protection.’

Kayla Toney advises that the request to start a prayer club should be granted no later than April 29, 2024.

“If we do not hear from you and receive these assurances by that time, we will proceed as our clients direct, and likely pursue all available legal remedies,” a letter to Chancellor concludes.

Laura’s mother, Kayla Toney, right, has laid out her beliefs in a detailed letter to the Issaquah School District on behalf of First Liberty Institute, warning how the school is unconstitutional

Mother Kayla Toney, who is an attorney with the First Liberty Institute, who speaks out about First Amendment violations, says the request to start a prayer club should be granted by April 29

‘We are ready to litigate if necessary’ and are ‘fully ready to take this to court.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to Creekside Elementary School and the school board.

A spokesman for the district said they have received the letter and the will follow up with further details after spring break.

‘As you may already know, the clubs offered are driven by the students’ interests and meet outside of the school day. At the elementary level, participation in a club also requires parental permission, spokeswoman Lesha Engels said in a statement.

‘When the school year begins, the building budget is set and additional clubs are not usually added until the following school year.’