School alters prayer policy

Mesquite High coaches to quit leading team prayers

10/04/2000

By Terri Williams / The Dallas Morning News

MESQUITE – When Mesquite High School football player Kirk Lannoye was asked by his coach to pray last week after the game against South Garland High School, he felt uneasy.

Kirk, a 15-year-old freshman, is an atheist, and he says most of the boys on the team know that.

"I felt a little uncomfortable," Kirk said of the prayer Thursday night. And it wasn't the first time that the coach, Todd Ritter, had asked the team to pray, often leading the boys before and after games, Kirk said.

Kirk told his father, Rick, a computer technician and a Wiccan, about the prayers, and his dad decided to attend the game Thursday.

According to Mr. Lannoye, the coach told the boys to take a knee and bow as he led them in prayer. The coach noticed that Kirk stood a few feet away from the huddle, so the coach asked him to join them, Mr. Lannoye said. Kirk knelt but he did not bow, he said.

Mr. Lannoye talked with Mr. Ritter and made a phone call Friday to Mesquite school officials, including district athletic director Mickey Delamar, Steve Halpin, the athletic director for Mesquite High School and Dr. James Terry, a district administrator.

Coach Ritter could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"Yes, it's true," Mr. Delamar said Tuesday, confirming that Mr. Ritter led the prayer. "About 95 percent of the teams do it every Friday, if it's student-initiated or coach-initiated. We've prayed before the game and after the game. I guess it's more a tradition than anything."

However, Mr. Delamar and Mr. Halpin said they would ensure that coaches would not lead any more prayers.

"I talked to coach Ritter. We've talked to the administration, and from now on it will be student-led prayer and not led by the coaches," Mr. Halpin said.

Mr. Lannoye said that Mr. Ritter did not mean any harm by saying the prayer, that he was only trying to motivate the team.

But Mr. Lannoye said the school was not abiding by the recent Supreme Court ruling that disallowed official prayers at football games. By a 6-3 vote, the justices struck down a Santa Fe, Texas, policy by which students elected a pre-game speaker who would then deliver the invocation over the loud speaker.

Texas Attorney General John Cornyn sent letters to all the school boards last year clarifying the decision while it was in the appeals process. Mr. Cornyn wrote: "The opinion does not prohibit students from engaging in voluntary prayer and should not be construed to prevent that type of activity as long as the school and school officials are not involved."

Ruling taken seriously

Mesquite spokesman Ian Halperin confirmed Monday that Mr. Lannoye lodged a complaint with the district. Mr. Halperin said the recent ruling would be enforced but that if students wanted to pray in small groups, that would not be breaking the law because free-speech rules protect such action.

"We are taking the law very seriously. There will not be any teacher-led or coach-led prayer," Mr. Halperin said. "We will make sure the coaches abide by the law."

Mr. Lannoye is aware that his complaint will upset some Christian parents and students. But he contends that when someone else's belief system infringes on his son, there's a problem.

"We're not trying to take God out of the schools," Mr. Lannoye said, adding that he doesn't have a problem with students organizing for prayer in a locker room or at a flagpole before school.

"I think the balance we have to achieve is to give freedom of expression as long as it doesn't step on another's rights."

Mr. Lannoye said it would be the same as if a coach asked players to join him in a pagan prayer, a Wiccan practice.

"I don't think Christian parents would like that," Mr. Lannoye said.

Other disputes

It's not the first time that Mr. Lannoye, who once ran for the Mesquite school board, has had disputes with school officials regarding his sons' beliefs and practices.

In 1998, his oldest son, Mark, was repeatedly sent to the office because he wore black clothing and a necklace of silver stars that are symbolic of the Wiccan religion. Mr. Lannoye said the black clothing is one way that Wiccans celebrate the arrival of fall. The five points on the star represent the Earth, air, water, fire and spirit. A circle around the star represents Mother Earth and a second circle represents Father Sky, Mr. Lannoye said in a previous interview.

School officials at the time argued that they were worried that the black clothing signified that Mark was in a gang. Although officials later allowed Mark to wear the clothing and the pentacle, they did not change the school's dress code. Instead, district Superintendent Dr. John Horn said the district would proceed with "a renewed effort to fairly administer our dress and grooming guides for all students."

And last year, Kirk Lannoye missed 10 days of school because he refused to remove a tiny gold ring from his ear, a violation of school district policy. Mr. Lannoye didn't fight the policy and sent his son back to school without the earring.

ACLU reaction

Diana Philip, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union's Texas chapter, said she was pleased that Mesquite officials would ensure that the ruling is followed. Ms. Philip said that since the Supreme Court made its ruling this summer, their office has not gotten as many calls complaining about issues of separation of church and state.

"It's always a very positive sign when the school says that, 'Yes, there is a problem, and we don't have to make a federal case about it,'" Ms. Philip said. "That's the way it's supposed to be. The public is supposed to hold their local governments accountable."

Staff writer Terri Williams can be reached at 972-278-8047 and at twilliams@dallasnews.com.