When a school program tells students not to tell their religious parents about an activity, there is a problem. That is what reportedly happened in Chicago Public Schools when it allegedly forced students to practice Hindu-based Transcendental Meditation (TM) twice a day.

This week the Chicago Board of Education and the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace settled a class action lawsuit, agreeing to pay out $2.6 million to former Chicago Public Schools high school students who say they were forced to participate in TM for 15-20 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon.

Court papers show the board of education first signed a $170,000 contract with the foundation to implement its “Quiet Time” program from March through June 2018.

“The key component of Quiet Time is an evidence-based stress reduction and cognitive development technique known as Transcendental Meditation. … If youth choose not to meditate, they are free to select another quiet activity such as sustained silent reading, resting, or quiet sitting,” the contract reads.

But former student Kaya Hudgins, now 22, testified in a deposition that she was told Quiet Time participation was mandatory. And, although the contract calls for permission slips to be signed by parents, Hudgins said students were told not to tell their parents. Hudgins, who grew up in a Muslim home, was 16 when the Chicago school allegedly started to indoctrinate her into TM. Hudgins said she asked if she could do some of her five daily prayers instead during Quiet Time and was denied, and she was sent to the dean’s office for complaining about the program. (Read more from “Chicago Public Schools Pays $2.6M For Allegedly Forcing Students To Participate In Hindu Ritual” HERE)