Sep 08 2009
Parental consent
This is unbelievable…
Ky. school trip to church that included baptisms raises questions
LOUISVILLE — A mother is angry about a trip led by the head football coach at Breckinridge County High School took about 20 players on a school bus late last month to his church, where nearly half of them — including her son — were baptized.
Michelle Ammons said her 16-year-old son was baptized without her knowledge and consent, and she is upset that a public school bus was used to take players to a church service — and that the school district’s superintendent was there and did not object…
“Nobody should push their faith on anybody else,” said Ammons, whose son, Robert Coffey, said coach Scott Mooney told him and other players that the Aug. 26 outing would include only a motivational speaker and a free steak dinner.
“He said it would bring the team together,” Robert, a sophomore, said in an interview…
Mooney, contacted by phone, said school district officials instructed him not to comment.
But Superintendent Janet Meeks, who is a member of the church and witnessed the baptisms, said she thinks the trip was proper because attendance was not required, and another coach paid for the gas.
Meeks said parents weren’t given permission slips to sign but knew the event would include a church service, if not specifically a baptism. She said eight or nine players came forward and were baptized.
Breckinridge County High School required that students present a permission slip signed by a parent before they were allowed to watch today’s speech by the President of the United States, yet no permission slip was required when they were taken to a church by their football coach and school superintendent and baptized.
Does this seem kind of bass ackwards to anyone besides me?
