Lancaster school district says prayers before games violate decades-old policy

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — A tradition before high school football games in Lancaster County is causing controversy.

For years, football fans have marked the beginning of every game with a prayer, but now the school district says it will be enforcing a decades-old policy that would prevent that from happening.

Channel 9′s Erika Jackson spoke with fans who said they are confused by the sudden change.

District officials said they recently learned that an announcer at one high school has been praying before games.

Fans attending Friday night’s football game against Andrew Jackson High School said their tradition of praying before the match was abruptly shut down before kickoff.

“People were just complaining and wanting to know why. What happened? Who made the decision?” State Rep. Sandy McGarry said.

McGarry said she has grandchildren in the district. She said parents and grandparents of students have been calling her office because they are upset about the change.

“This is a 22-year-old issue. Why all of a sudden this now stopped? Full stop. Not like we’re going to talk about it. It’s a full stop,” McGarry said.

The school district however said that this is not a sudden change. It said it is enforcing a policy that was put in place in 2000.

It requires announcers to read the sportsman’s creed followed by a moment of silence before sporting events.

District officials said they recently learned that some announcers have not been following that procedure and instead prayed over the PA system before the games.

The news spread quickly on social media, gaining traction from people on both sides of the issue.

One woman commented on a Facebook post about the subject saying in part, “I think the moment of silence is something we can all agree upon and to each his own to pray or whatever during that moment but the silence should be respected.”

“Those that don’t want it, you don’t have to pray. You don’t have to. It’s up to you, it’s an individual issue,” McGarry said.

Fans said they are counting down until the next Andrew Jackson kickoff but this issue might keep people like Cecil Boster from returning to the volunteers’ stadium.

“I don’t know what to do. Everything is such a mess with this whole world. It’s just a mess,” Boster said.

The school district said enforcing this rule keeps Lancaster County in compliance with its decades-old directive and the law.

It added that the district respects the right of everyone present at school-sponsored events.

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