Florida Legislature could discuss prayer at high school sports events

TALLAHASSEE — Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes of St. Petersburg says he might wade into the controversial issue of prayer at high school athletic events during this legislative session.

Brandes' interest in the topic stems from an incident in December when the Florida High School Athletic Association wouldn't allow two Christian schools — Tampa's Cambridge Christian School and Jacksonville's University Christian School — to broadcast a prayer over the public announcement system before kickoff of a district championship football game.

"We use the PA system here all of the time to pray in the Legislature," Brandes told the Times/Herald. "I've been at many events, political events or other events where people have offered a prayer or blessing or some other type of inspirational statement."

"I think if you have two Christian schools that are consenting, that using the PA system is not a major issue and that the state should stay out of it," he added.

Brandes broached the issue publicly on Thursday, when a Senate education committee was discussing a bill by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, that affects the athletic association's state-designated governance of high school athletics. The discussion was minimal and quickly moved on when committee Chairman John Legg, R-Trinity, told Brandes to keep his questions to the bill at hand.

But Roger Dearing, executive director of the athletic associated, explained to senators that the organization could not grant permission for the Christian schools to broadcast a prayer, because the game was an association-sanctioned event at a public facility and because the association gets its governing authority through Florida law, which would make it a "state actor" in the public prayer.

"We told both schools, they could pray before the game, they could pray at halftime, they could pray after the game — whatever they wanted to do with their teams," he said. "And they did. But you can't get on the loud speaker at a public entity — the Citrus Bowl in Orlando — at an event that is sponsored by the FHSAA, a state actor, and lead the entire group in prayer."

The issue involves the doctrine of separation of church and state, stemming from freedom of religion granted under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. And it's something the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on 16 years ago, although it remains a contentious issue.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices deemed it unconstitutional for students to pray over the loudspeakers before high school football games in a Texas school district.

Brandes told the Times/Herald that he's checking with Senate lawyers to see if the athletic association's interpretation of that ruling is correct, but he said he's prepared to file an amendment of some kind to address the issue, if necessary.

"The simple truth is: Let's figure out whether there's a legitimate issue here, whether there's anything we can do at the state level and then move forward," he said.