Photo by Taylor Friehl on Unsplash
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has convinced Colorado’s second-largest school district to address a constitutional violation involving school-sponsored prayer at an official athletics event.
A concerned Jeffco Public Schools system parent reported that the May 12 Bear Creek High School annual track team awards banquet included a student-led prayer directed by the track team coach. The parent stated that the coach selected a student to lead approximately 50 students and guests in a Christian prayer before the meal. Everyone at the banquet was reportedly told to stop what they were doing for the prayer.
The parent, who is an atheist, told FFRF that the prayer left them “shocked that it was so casually done” and expressed concerns about other non-Christian attendees as well, including Muslim guests. Although the parent wanted to object, they stayed silent because they “didn’t want to somehow jeopardize [their child’s] standing in the community.”
FFRF asked Jeffco Public Schools to investigate and ensure that the coach ceases ordering students to lead prayer at school-sponsored events.
“School officials may not direct students to give any type of prayer, invocation, benediction, or sermon at public school-sponsored events,” FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence wrote to the superintendent.
Here, the coach crossed the line by asking a student to lead all fellow students and guests in prayer at the official annual awards banquet. The school-sponsored prayer coerced everyone in attendance, including our complainant and their student, to observe and participate in a religious exercise. By allowing a coach to direct a student to lead prayers at an official school-sponsored event, Bear Creek High School, and thus the Jeffco Public Schools district, abridged that duty. School-sponsored prayers needlessly marginalize students and community members (such as our complainant and their students) among the 47 percent of Coloradans who are non-Christian, including the 44 percent of Generation Z members who are nonreligious.
The district replied positively — verifying that it investigated FFRF’s complaint and addressed the matter with its employees.
“I can confirm that Jeffco followed up on the concern raised,” the district responded in an email. “Follow-up included speaking with multiple employees who were present at the banquet. In response to that inquiry, the matter was addressed as appropriate with our team members.”
FFRF welcomes the district’s answer and expects that future school-sponsored events will respect the rights of students and families of all religious and nonreligious backgrounds.
“Students should be able to celebrate their accomplishments without being subjected to a religious exercise orchestrated by their public school or coach,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “Public school athletics should bring students together — not place them in the unconstitutional and uncomfortable position of being prayed at or participating in someone else’s religion.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With over 40,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,400 members and two chapters in Colorado, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
