Students stand behind coach banned from prayer participation
High schoolers rally behind Coach John Small after the district barred him from participating in student-led prayer after he was reported by an atheist group.
Heaven help the coach who bows his head to pray in Coweta County, Georgia.
The Coweta County School District issued an edict banning all coaches and other employees from participating in student-initiated or student-led prayer or other forms of worship while acting in their official capacity.
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"They cannot join hands, bow their heads, take a knee or commit another act that otherwise manifests approval with the students' religious experience," school board attorney Nathan Lee wrote in a letter obtained by the Newnan Times-Herald.
The prayer ban stems from a complaint filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Wisconsin-based group of disgruntled atheists, agnostics and free-thinkers.
They obtained video of East Coweta County High School football coach John Small bowing his head during a team prayer.
"It is illegal for public school athletic coaches to lead their teams in prayer," FFRF attorney Christopher Line wrote in a letter to the school district. "Coach Small's conduct is unconstitutional because he endorses and promotes his religion when acting in his official capacity as a school district employee."
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