Prayer at Graduation

My son graduated high school Thursday night from a high school in Arkansas.  At the start of the ceremony the school asked the crowd to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and to remain standing for prayer. They also said a prayer at the end of the ceremony.  Has this public high school not heard of separation of church and state?  I am sure not everyone in the crowd was Christian. 

How can public schools still get away with this blatant disregard for the Constitution?  Religion has no place in public schools or public school functions.  At my daughters school, the principal leads the PTA meeting, every assembly, and all awards ceremonies in a Christian prayer.  It's a PUBLIC SCHOOL.      

"Schools should not be in the business of endorsing religion.  A prayer that is made part of the program violates the rights of those who do not want to be pressured into going along with what is essentially a religious ritual - mass communication with God.  That's different from comments made in an individual speaker's commencement address, expressing his or her views.  But even that person has no right to expect everyone in attendance to participate in a religious ceremony just because he or she is a private person.  Non-pornographic and non-obscene speech should not be censored but language that tells the audience to engage in religious acts - like a call to bow their heads while the speaker says a prayer - is obviously at odds with the Constitution."  - From CNN.COM