The Freedom From Religion Foundation has ensured that contracted bus drivers in Minnesota’s Milaca Public Schools system will no longer hand out to students religious messages attached to candy canes.

A concerned parent of a Milaca Elementary School student reported that on Dec. 22, 2025, their child’s school bus driver gave students “WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do) bracelets and a piece of paper with a candy cane tied to it. The paper had a religious message, with the candy cane making the letter “J”:
Jesus is my Savior who gave his life for me. Because of Him each of us can ever more be free. Jesus is the greatest gift the world has ever seen. So I’ll talk of Him at Christmas time, and all the days in between.

The parent expressed their frustration to FFRF about school bus drivers passing out religious messages and bracelets to students, because they are not raising their children to believe in religion. The parent was upset that “their kids might be treated poorly because they do not have the same religious beliefs as others.” 

FFRF was ready to fight on behalf of the nonreligious family to keep divisive religion out of our public school system. 

“In this case, the district violated parents’ trust by allowing a school bus driver to distribute religious messages and bracelets to students while acting in their official role as a school employee,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to Superintendent Dave Wedin. “This not only violates students’ First Amendment rights, it violates parents’ constitutional rights to direct their children’s religious or nonreligious upbringing.” 

The distribution of “WWJD” bracelets and a message saying “Jesus is my savior” gave the impression that the district favored religion over nonreligion and Christianity over all other faiths. Furthermore, religious distributions in school settings, including on the school bus, coercively encourage students to take, read and reflect upon the religious message. Students (such as the child of the parent who approached FFRF) who see other students taking the religious items at the encouragement of an authority figure will no doubt feel pressured to take the items to conform. This needlessly marginalizes students who do not believe in Christianity, including members of minority faiths and those who are nonreligious. As much as 38 percent of the American population is non-Christian, including the 29 percent of Minnesotans who are religiously unaffiliated and another 7 percent who belong to non-Christian faiths. Additionally, more than half of Generation Z (those born after 1996) is non-Christian, including 43 percent who are nonreligious. 

Due to FFRF’s intervention, the district has thankfully worked to correct the issue.

An email from Superintendent Wedin reported that the district had conducted an internal investigation to prevent further incidents.

“By working [with the contracted bus company], we were able to identify the individual involved,” Wedin wrote. “The company has addressed the matter appropriately with the driver to prevent any future occurrences.” Wedin also reported a proactive effort of speaking with other contracted transportation providers to reiterate the district’s secular expectations.

FFRF is pleased to resolve another state/church violation, making certain that public school students of all religions and no religions feel equally welcome.

“FFRF knows that students’ rights must be protected year-round; children cannot have religion forced onto them just because of a particular annual observance,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Religion in public schools creates walls between children and emphasizes differences. Religious indoctrination is a matter that must be left to personal conscience and parental guidance.” 

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 800 members and two chapters in Minnesota. Our purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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