A school district in Ohio has reiterated its stance that coaches are prohibited from leading students in prayer following a complaint letter from a prominent atheist organization.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter to Lake Local Schools earlier this month, warning of potential legal action after being informed that a high school cross-country coach allegedly led her team in prayer.
On September 4, FFRF legal fellow Kyle J. Steinberg authored a letter to Yeagley, explaining that a concerned parent reported a coach who was “leading her team in prayer before meets.”
Steinberg noted, “We are further informed that coach-led prayer is common across sports teams in the district,” and added that the parent felt “helpless, awkward, and embarrassed that the child was forced to either pray against their own beliefs or risk ostracizing themselves from the team by stepping away from the illegal prayer.”
He noted that coaches are allowed to “express their religious beliefs however they wish outside of their roles as public school coaches,” but “they cannot use their position to foist their personal religious beliefs onto students or encourage students to pray.”
Lake Local Superintendent Brett Yeagley responded in an emailed statement to The Christian Post, stating that “district administrators met to review these concerns in consultation with legal counsel” last week.
“As it stands, like students, teachers, and coaches can pray independently and voluntarily during non-instructional time,” Yeagley said, “but they may not lead, organize, or require students to pray as part of class or school-sponsored extracurricular activities or athletic events.”
He emphasized that the district is “committed to enforcing and maintaining compliance with constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public schools.”
He explained, “As it relates to the concerns raised by the FFRF, the district is committed to enforcing and maintaining compliance with constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public schools.”
“As explained in the U.S. Department of Education’s current guidance on constitutionally protected prayer and religious expression in public elementary and secondary schools, students choosing to pray at athletic events have the opportunity to do so. No district employees will lead student athletes in prayer,” Yeagley added.
In 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District that a public high school football coach could pray at the 50-yard line after games.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the majority opinion, stating that “the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like” those of Coach Joe Kennedy.
Gorsuch added, “Kennedy prayed during a period when school employees were free to speak with a friend, call for a reservation at a restaurant, check email, or attend to other personal matters.”
He explained that “He offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied. Still, the Bremerton School District disciplined him anyway … The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
