A high school football coach in Arizona is serving a two-week suspension for praying with his team.
Tom Brittain, head varsity coach at Tempe Preparatory Academy in Tempe, Arizona, prayed with his team after they won a game.
Officials say the coach violated school policy at the publicly funded charter school and despite some students’ support and the outrage of some parents, “staff can’t appear to condone religion.”
Dr. David Baum, the school’s headmaster, says it boils down to protecting separation of church and state.
“He is a man who likes to pray, and I don’t object to that. Just, he can’t do that with our students. That’s the only prohibition,” Baum told KPHO-TV.
“He directed students to lead a prayer and he joined the students in that prayer and did so in view of everyone,” he added.
