Written by Don Byrd
Georgia’s Dawson County High School has agreed to halt a volunteer “character coach’s” practice of leading the football team in prayer before games. After a video surfaced showing one prayer, a letter was sent to school officials by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) leading to the decision, which seems to demonstrate that the district takes seriously the issues at stake in school-sponsored religion.
Dawson County News has more:
After “reviewing the information provided and conversations with appropriate school officials, the district is committed to following the parameters set forth in the First Amendment, and the court decisions interpreting the First Amendment, relating to both the establishment of religion and student’s rights to exercise their freedom of religion,” [Superintendent Damon] Gibbs said in an email. “We believe that our coaches have an understanding of those guidelines and will abide by them.”
A press release from FFRF reminds that “schools cannot appoint or employ a chaplain, seek out a spiritual leader for students, or agree to have a volunteer teach other people’s children that character centers on religious belief, because public schools may not advance or promote religion…”
