BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. – A dispute over football players praying at Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School has been settled, but rumors continue to swirl around the issue.
For the past eleven years, the football players at Lahser have had a tradition of praying after games. A complaint went to the American Civil Liberties Union, alleging it was school sponsored prayer.
The school investigated and learned the football coach was not leading the prayer, but because it went on during a team meeting, the school district said it was not allowable.
Stories began circulating that players would be forbidden to pray. That is not the case.
Now, if the players want to pray after a game, they can do it on their own, after the team meeting is over.
Bloomfield Hills Schools superintendent Rob Glass made the distinction.
"This whole issue rests on two boundary lines. We do not want to establish or endorse prayer or any religion, nor do we want to inhibit anyone's rights to pray. We have to live within those two boundaries. We have to work that out and that's what we're doing, always have, always will. That's what makes a good, respectful community," Glass said.
The bottom line is that students will be allowed to pray, but that prayer cannot be construed as school sponsored activity.