A federal judge today ruled unconstitutional the school dance ban that has been in effect in tiny Prudy for at least a century. U.S. District Judge Russell Clark stopped short, however, of ordering the school board to hold dances for students. ``It would be inappropriate for this court to order the district to sponsor school dances. However, a district rule prohibiting students from holding dances on school property infringes on the First Amendment rights of the students and must be invalidated,'' Clark said in the decision that followed four days of testimony in June. He awarded the plaintiffs _ 21 students and their parents _ $1 in nominal damages and attorney fees and ordered the school board not to enforce its ban on dancing. William Fleischaker, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer from Joplin, who represented those who favored dances, said the school board could still ban dancing if it could present reasons other than the written rule and religious reasons. But he said he felt it would be ``foolish'' of the school board to try to stop dances on school property. Nancy Fox, 16, student body president for the upcoming school year, said she would try to organize a dance for the start of the school term next month. ``I think the only change will be we'll have some dances and we'll have some fun. I hope there won't be any bad attitudes,'' she said after Clark's ruling. School officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The school board lawyer was with a client, and members of the school board did not answer their telephones. Clark said he found the testimony of school board members ``incredible.'' ``The entire board candidly admits that they followed the will of the majority, but they were not candid in their opinions of the religious reasoning of the majority,'' Clark wrote. ``This court is skeptical that it heard the complete story concerning the board members' deliberations of the rule and the religious significance of the opposition to dancing in Purdy,'' his order said. The pro-dancers sued the school board in 1986, maintaining the dance ban was inspired by a religious bias against dancing. But school board members testified that the community of 900 people southwest of Springfield opposed dancing for a number of reasons that had little to do with religion, including the belief that dancing leads to drinking and other discipline problems. The school board handbook states simply: ``School dances are not authorized and school premises shall not be used for purposes of conducting a dance.'' Purdy High School proms have been held in neighboring communities, prompting some parents to complain that their children were put into danger by being forced to drive 30 miles or more to dance. In recent decades, senior classes have made a ritual of asking the school to allow a dance and being refused. But the class of 1986 proved more persistent. Students that year signed a petition in support of a school dance to publicize a local chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving. They asked their parents' help and sought media attention when they took the request before the school board. They were met with resistance organized in local churches _ so many people were drawn to the meeting at which the ban was challenged that it had to be moved to the high school gymnasium. The school board, lobbied by anti-dancing ministers, voted unanimously to uphold the ban. Dance supporters followed with a rally to which they invited stars of the movie ``Footloose,'' a movie about a fictional Texas town where dancing was banned. Actors Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer were unable to attend.
